Keep Food Safe Blog

Spring Celebrations: Handling Leftovers

Posted April 10, 2012

By Diane Van, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service

Now that we have served that delicious ham and brisket and hunted for our hard-cooked Easter eggs, callers to USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline have questions about the storage of these leftovers. Here are some answers based on questions our Hotline food safety specialists have reviewed from callers.

How long can I keep a leftover cooked ham in the refrigerator?

Spring Holiday Ham Many people believe that because most hams are cured that they can be stored longer than fresh meat. However, leftover cooked ham should be used within 3-4 days or frozen. To determine how long different types of ham can be stored safely in the refrigerator and freezer, see the Ham Storage Chart.

How long can I keep leftover cooked brisket in the refrigerator?

Store cooked brisket in the refrigerator (40 °F or below) and use within 3 to 4 days. Cooked brisket can be frozen for 2 to 3 months for best quality. After that time, it will still be safe, but can lose flavor and moisture. For more information on the safe preparation and handling of beef, check out Beef...from Farm to Table. For more information about cooking, reheating and storing brisket visit the blog post: Spring Traditions: Serving Brisket Safely

What is the best way to safely handle eggs used for an Easter egg hunt?

The "found" Easter eggs must be washed, re-refrigerated and eaten within 7 days of cooking. We do not recommend using hard-cooked eggs that have been lying on the ground, because they can pick up bacteria, especially if the shells are cracked. If the shells crack, bacteria can contaminate the inside. Eggs should be hidden in places that are protected from dirt, moisture, pets, and other sources of bacteria. The total time for hiding and hunting eggs should not exceed 2 hours or 1 hour if the air temperature outside is above 90°F.

To see videos on how to handle ham, brisket and eggs safely visit:
FSIS website for videos about ham, brisket and egg safety

If you have other food safety questions feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov

Spring Celebrations: What’s on Your Menu?

Posted March 27, 2012

By Diane Van, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service

USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline gets extra busy this time of year with brisket, baked ham, and egg questions. Here are some Spring food safety tips based on questions our Hotline Food Safety Specialists have received from callers.

How long can I keep a ham in the refrigerator before cooking it?

Spring holiday meal with ham and sides To answer your question, we need to know what type of ham you’re buying and how it’s packaged. What does the label advise? The label is the best guide for determining storage time. It gives the product name, whether it’s smoked or cured, and whether you must refrigerate it. While USDA doesn’t require manufacturers to list the freshness date on products, many do. Look for the instructions on the label that tell you how long you can keep the product. For example: “Best if used by April 15.”

Is it safe to hide colored hard boiled eggs around the house or outside before an Easter hunt?

That’s not a good idea. It’s best to keep eggs refrigerated until hiding time. If eggs are left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours, bacteria could multiply to dangerous levels and cause food poisoning.

I’ve heard you shouldn’t let food sit out. How can I host a Passover Seder and serve a safe meal?

You bring up a classic Passover dilemma in safe food handling. Often a Seder host wants to greet everyone when they arrive then participate in the ceremony. For a formal Seder you prepare a lot of food ahead of time, and no one wants to eat cold lamb, brisket or lukewarm gefilte fish. Remember to:

Serve your cold foods -the eggs and gefilte fish- straight from the refrigerator. Keep them cold by nesting dishes in beds of ice or use a series of small serving trays and replace them often.
Fully cook and slice the brisket before the Seder begins. Then either reheat it in the microwave while serving your matzo ball soup, or leave the foil-covered brisket, kept moist with gravy, in a warming oven (about 200°F) until serving time.
Discard food that has been left out at room temperature more than two hours (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).

For more information, check out these resources:

If you have other food safety questions feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov

Have a safe and happy Spring celebration!

Got Raw Milk? Don’t Drink It

Posted March 13, 2012

By Adam Langer, DVM, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

You may have recently heard about people getting sick from raw milk, or milk that has not been pasteurized (heated to kill germs). We have talked about its dangers before on this blog—and we want to give you some important updated information to help keep you and your family members from becoming ill.

New Raw Milk Study

A new CDC study looked at outbreaks related to dairy products over a 14-year period in the U.S. and found: Glass of milk

Raw milk was much more likely to cause outbreaks than pasteurized milk

Outbreaks caused by raw milk tended to cause more severe disease

Younger people were affected more in outbreaks caused by raw milk than in outbreaks caused by pasteurized milk

States that allow the sale of raw milk had more outbreaks caused by consuming raw milk

Drinking Raw Milk is Not Worth the Risk

Some people claim that there are health benefits of drinking raw milk. They may think that raw milk provides better nutrition than pasteurized milk. This is simply not true. Studies have shown that the nutrients in milk are not significantly affected by pasteurization. In fact, by consuming raw milk rather than fortified, pasteurized milk, consumers miss out on an opportunity to include a good source of vitamin D in their diets.

Even healthy adults can get sick from drinking raw milk. For some, getting sick from raw milk can mean diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting, often for days. For others, it can mean kidney failure, paralysis, chronic disorders, and even death. Drinking raw milk is not worth the risk.

Although many foods can be enjoyed raw, milk and products made from it should never be one of them. Raw milk is a risky source of entirely preventable foodborne illness and can be contaminated with a variety of germs that can make people sick.

How can raw milk make you sick?

Raw milk and other raw dairy products can carry harmful bacteria and other germs that can make you very sick or kill you. Cows and other dairy animals can carry many different types of bacteria that can cause illness in people. These animals usually don’t appear to be sick because often they are not affected by these bacteria. These animals appear healthy and clean, but the bacteria can be present in their feces, in the milk itself, and on their skin, as well as in the environment of the dairy. Pasteurization is absolutely necessary to eliminate these bacteria from the milk and make it safe to consume.

No matter what precautions dairy farmers take or what they feed their animals, and even if laboratory tests for bacteria come back negative, they cannot guarantee that their unpasteurized milk, or products made from it, is free of harmful germs. You can’t look at, smell, or taste a bottle of raw milk and tell if it is safe to drink.

What You Can Do

As a consumer, you can take steps to minimize the risk of getting sick:

Only consume pasteurized milk and milk products. Look for the word “pasteurized” on the dairy labels. If in doubt, don’t buy it!
Keep all dairy products refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below at home and dispose of any expired products to reduce the risk of illness.
If you consume soft, fresh, un-aged cheeses like queso fresco, make sure they are made from pasteurized milk. Aged cheeses made from raw milk are generally okay to eat because germs usually die off during the aging process. However, outbreaks associated with these aged cheeses have been identified.