When Good Turkey Goes Bad

Keep Leftovers Safe By Following Simple Steps

Julie Houston, Staff Writer

When the Thanksgiving feast-o-plenty is done, keep yourself and your family safe from sickness by storing and heating your leftovers properly.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a helpful formula to make sure your leftovers are safe to eat.

The CSPI recommends that to stop bacterial growth you follow the 2-2-4 formula.

Two Hours:
While the turkey in your system may make you want to hit the couch, resist the urge to snooze and get your leftovers in the fridge or freezer within two hours of cooking.

Bacteria multiply fastest at warm temperatures in the range between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, according to CSPI.

If food has been left out more than two hours, throw it away.

Two inches:
No, this doesn't refer to your expanding waistline.

The CSPI says that you should divide your turkey into smaller pieces and store turkey separately from the other feast fixings.

All leftovers should be kept in shallow containers about two inches deep.

Shallow containers allow food to cool more evenly and quickly in the refrigerator or freezer, according to the CSPI.

Four days:
Eat refrigerated leftovers within four days. Stuffing and gravy should be eaten in two days. Frozen foods will last longer.

If reheating leftovers, the CSPI says to make sure to heat them to 165 degrees and boil soups, sauces and gravies.

"Following the two hours-two inches-four days formula for all leftovers could help prevent about 400,000 food-related illnesses each year," CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal said in a statement.

Harmful bacteria is killed with proper cooking and handling.