Food Safety
Iowa’s turkey producers and processors take great pride in providing a safe, nutritious, and delicious product for consumers. In addition to the proper care and handling of the product at the farm and processing facilities, we are emphasizing food safety, wherever food is prepared, whether that be your home kitchen, restaurant, or other place. See below the proper methods for safe meat handling.
Core Four Food Safety Practices:
Clean: Wash hands, utensils, and surfaces before, after, and during handling raw turkey.
Germs that can make you sick can live in many places around your kitchen, including your food, hands, utensils, cutting boards, countertops, etc.
Wash hands with plain soap and water by scrubbing the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails, for at least 20 seconds. Then rinse hands and dry with a clean towel.
Thoroughly clean all cutting boards, countertops, and utensils with soap and hot water before and after preparing raw meats.
Separate raw turkey from other foods to avoid cross-contamination.
Use separate cutting boards for raw meat and fruits, vegetables, and any other food that does not require cooking.
Use separate plates and utensils for cooked and raw foods.
Keep raw meat and eggs separate from other foods in your shopping cart and in your fridge or freezer.
Cook turkey to the safe internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook turkey and all meats immediately after thawing.
Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature is high enough to kill germs that can make you sick.
Use a meat thermometer to verify that the turkey has reached the safest internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Temperature should be checked in at least three places when cooking a whole turkey: the innermost part of the thigh, the innermost part of the wing, and the thickest part of the breast.
If you stuffed your turkey, the innermost part of the stuffing should also reach 165 degrees F.
When cooking turkey burgers, use an instant-read food thermometer inserted into several parts of the patty-including the thickest part. The temperature of 165 degrees F kills foodborne germs.
If you’re not serving food right away after cooking, prevent the internal temperature from dropping below 140 degrees F. This is where germs grow rapidly.
Chill: Properly refrigerate or freeze raw and cooked turkey.
Refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours of cooking
Bacteria that cause food poisoning multiply quickest between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F.
Your refrigerator should be set to 40 degrees F or below; your freezer should be set to -18 degrees F or below. Use an appliance thermometer to be sure.
Leftovers should be placed in shallow containers and refrigerated quickly after cooking to allow for quick cooling.
Never thaw or marinate foods outside of the refrigerator.
Freezing does not destroy harmful germs; it only keeps food safe until you can cook it again.
Be sure to throw out old food before harmful bacteria grow.
Freeze raw turkey that will not be cooked before the ‘use by date’ on the packaging, or within two days of purchase of fresh meat.
Other tips:
Turkey is never eaten raw or rare.
Never place cooked burgers or ground poultry on an unwashed plate that was used for raw patties.
Wash food thermometers in between tests of patties that require further cooking to reach the proper temperature.
Leftover foods or ready-to-eat foods (hot dogs and sausages) should be cooked until steaming hot.
Do not rinse raw turkey in the sink before cooking. This only increases the chances of spreading the raw juices around your kitchen. Remember, cooking to 165 degrees F is the ONLY way to kill bacteria.
Check out this PDF by foodsafety.gov to find the correct cooking time for the size of your bird: Turkey Roasting Time by Size
Check out this PDF by foodsafety.gov to find the correct thawing time for the size of your bird: Turkey Thawing Time by Size
For more tips and tricks, visit: foodsafety.gov
Core Four Food Safety Practices Educational PDFs:
