Keep Food Safe Blog 
Mail-Order Madness
By Diane Van, Food Safety Education Staff Deputy Director, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Mail-order foods have been around for awhile and now ordering online makes it easy to send or receive a tasty gift. Perhaps you placed an order for a gift of food for yourself or a family member or plan to send a gift of food. Either way, make sure it’s handled safely so you keep your family food safe.
A safety Checklist for Mail-Order Foods
- Make sure the company sends perishable items, like meat or poultry, cold or frozen and packed with a cold source. It should be packed in foam or heavy corrugated cardboard.
- The food should be delivered as quickly as possible — ideally, overnight. Make sure perishable items and the outer package are labeled "Keep Refrigerated" to alert the recipient.
- When you receive a food item marked "Keep Refrigerated," open it immediately and check its temperature. The food should arrive frozen or partially frozen with ice crystals still visible or at least refrigerator cold—below 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
- Even if a product is smoked, cured, vacuum-packed, and/or fully cooked, it still is a perishable product and must be kept cold. If perishable food arrives warm — above 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer — notify the company. Do not consume the food. Do not even taste it.
- Alert the recipient that "the gift is in the mail" so someone can be there to receive it. Don't have perishable items delivered to an office unless you know it will arrive on a work day and there is refrigerator space available for keeping it cold.
A Safety Checklist for Perishable Foods Prepared at Home and Mailed
- Ship in a sturdy box.
- Pack with a cold source, i.e., frozen gel packs or dry ice.
- When using dry ice:
- Don't touch the dry ice with bare hands.
- Don't let it come in direct contact with food.
- Warn the recipient of its use by writing "Contains Dry Ice" on the outside of the box.
- Wrap box in two layers of brown paper.
- Use permanent markers to label outside of the box. Use recommended packing tape.
- Label outside clearly; make sure address is complete and correct.
- Write "Keep Refrigerated" on outside of the box.
- Alert recipient of its expected arrival.
- Do not send to business addresses or where there will not be adequate refrigerator storage.
- Do not send packages at the end of the week. Send them at the beginning of the week so they do not sit in the post office or mailing facility over the weekend.
- Whenever possible, send foods that do not require refrigeration, e.g., hard salami, hard cheese, country ham.
For more information including a diagram of how to pack a perishable food items visit our fact sheet Mail-Order Food Safety.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
If you have any questions about turkeys and Thanksgiving, feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov.
How to Handle Ready-to-Eat Bagged Produce
by Dr. Michelle Annette Smith, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Food Safety, Produce Safety Staff, FDA
Pre-cut, bagged, pre-washed produce has increased in popularity over the last few years. The convenience of ready-to-eat bagged produce has allowed consumers with hectic lifestyles to add healthy leafy greens, fruits, and other vegetables to their diet easily. Recent recalls of ready-to-eat bagged produce have raised questions on how to handle it safely at home.
Tips for handling ready-to-eat produce safely
While we recommend that you wash intact produce, such as apples, head lettuce, and whole carrots before preparation and consumption, many pre-cut, bagged, or packaged produce items like mixed salad greens are pre-washed and ready-to-eat. It is unlikely that consumer washing of such products will make the product cleaner compared to a commercial triple wash. It is possible that the additional handling may contaminate a product that was clean. If you’re not sure if your packaged produce is ready-to-eat, look at the label. If the package indicates that the contents have been pre-washed and are ready-to-eat, you can use the product without further washing.
If you choose to wash a product marked “pre-washed” and “ready-to-eat,” be sure to use safe-handling practices to avoid any cross contamination.
- Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after handling the product.
- Wash cutting boards, dishes, salad spinners, utensils, and countertops with hot water between the preparation of raw meat, poultry, and seafood products and preparation of produce that will not be cooked.
Additional Produce Tips
- Choose only ready-to-eat produce that is refrigerated or surrounded by ice before buying
- Refrigerate all pre-cut, ready-to-eat produce promptly
- Make sure that produce, including ready-to-eat produce, is not bruised or damaged
- Separate ready-to-eat produce from raw meat, poultry, and seafood in your refrigerator
- Never use detergent or bleach to wash produce. These products are not intended for consumption.
- Throw away ready-to-eat produce that has touched raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
- Return any uneaten ready-to-eat produce to the refrigerator or discard
Produce Safety: Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices
Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices
Turkey FUNdamentals: Leftovers
By Diane Van, Food Safety Education Staff Deputy Director, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
The Sad Case of the Leftover Thanksgiving Doggy Bag
“Would you like a doggy bag to take home?” asks the waiter. “That would be great” says the diner. Nearly half of her dinner remains on the plate and will make a quick second meal for another day.
But wait. Here’s the same diner calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Meat and Poultry Hotline the following day. “I put a restaurant doggy bag in the back seat of my car last night, and when I came out to drive to work, there it sat. Is it safe if I heat it up again?”
Sadly, no. The food safety expert at USDA explains that bacteria in food left out for more than two hours double in number every 20 minutes, and some bacteria make a poison or toxin that can make you ill, hence the term “food poisoning.”
Even if you were able to heat the food and destroy the thousands of bacteria present in the backseat doggy bag, the toxin can make you ill. It’s a lose-lose proposition. Toss that “puppy” out!
Handling Leftovers Safely
How could the doggy-bag owner handle the bonus meal safely? First of all, take the restaurant leftovers straight home – no running errands or visiting friends. Within 2 hours of being served, the leftovers should be safely tucked away at home in the refrigerator where they can safely remain for three to four days.
Leaving food out at an unsafe temperature is one of the main causes of foodborne illness. Safe handling of leftovers is very important to reducing foodborne illness. Follow these USDA recommendations for handling leftovers safely – whether from a restaurant or home cooked.
- Bacteria grow rapidly between the temperatures of 40° F and 140° F. After food is safely cooked, leftovers must be refrigerated within twohours.
- Throw away any hot or cold leftovers that have been left out for more than two hours at room temperature (one hour when the temperature is above 90 °F, such as at an outdoor event).
- To prevent bacterial growth, it’s important to cool hot food rapidly to the safe refrigerator-storage temperature of 40° F. To do this, divide large amounts of food into shallow containers. A big pot of soup, for example, will take a long time to cool, inviting bacteria to multiply and increasing the danger of foodborne illness.
- Cut large items of food into smaller portions to cool. For whole roasts, turkey or hams, slice or cut them into smaller parts.
- Hot food can be placed directly in the refrigerator, or it can be rapidly chilled in an ice or cold water bath before refrigerating.
- Cover leftovers, wrap them in airtight packaging, or seal them in storage containers. These practices help keep bacteria out, retain moisture, and prevent leftovers from picking up odors from other food in the refrigerator. Immediately refrigerate or freeze the wrapped leftovers for rapid cooling.
Reheating Safely Stored Leftovers
- Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days or frozen for three to four months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.
- When reheating leftovers, be sure they reach 165° F. Use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of the food. Reheat sauces, soups and gravies by bringing them to a rolling boil. Cover leftovers to reheat. This retains moisture and ensures that food will heat all the way through.
- Thaw frozen leftovers safely in the refrigerator, cold water or the microwave oven. When thawing leftovers in a microwave, continue to heat it until it reaches 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
- Any leftover “leftovers” thawed by the cold water method or in the microwave should be reheated to 165 °F before refreezing.
- In a real hurry? It is safe to reheat frozen leftovers without thawing, either in a saucepan or microwave (in the case of a soup or stew) or in the oven or microwave (for example, casseroles and combination meals). Reheating will take longer than if the food is thawed first, but it is safe to do when time is short.
If you have any questions about turkeys and Thanksgiving, feel free to contact us at the Hotline (1-888-674-6854 toll-free) or online at AskKaren.gov.
