AHS is giving food safety tips to try to keep every Christmas dinner as safe as possible.
Most foodborne illnesses can be prevented by being careful when you shop, store, prepare, cook and serve food.
At the grocery store, AHS recommends putting raw meat such as, poultry, eggs, fish and shellfish items at the bottom of the cart away from other food and to bag items such as raw meat poultry, eggs, fish and shellfish items separately.
When storing food items AHS recommends ensuring you refrigerator is set at 4 °C (40 °F) or colder and putting all groceries away immediately once you get home. When thawing food AHS says both a fridge or microwave works but the meat must be cooked immediately after it has thawed.
Finally, once everything has been cooked leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours of serving and reheated to at least 74 °C or 165 °F.