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Show Caution prevenis-Thanksgiving food poisoning cause it usually contains dairy products which can easily spoil. "It is a much misunderstood misunder-stood wive's tale that food should completely cool be fore it is put in the refrigerator," Lauritzen says. "Maximum bacteria safety means keeping food either above 140F or below 40F as much as possible. Thanksgiving dinner is a happy occasion for family gatherings, but all-day cooking cook-ing and large quantities of food may lead to bacteria and food poisoning. According to Georgia Lauritzen, Utah State University Uni-versity extension food nutrition nutri-tion specialist, you need to carefully monitor the temperature temp-erature of your food and avoid harmful bacteria. "Most bacteria forms in food in the temperature range of 40 to 140F," Lauritzen says, "so it is important to keep the food out of this range as much as possible." For this reason, Lauritzen says it is best not to stuff your turkey the night before, especially if you are adding cooked dressing to an uncooked un-cooked turkey. It will cause the turkey to warm up and keep the dressing from cooling to a safe temperature quickly. "Many of the turkeys today have built-in timers which pop up when the bird is cooked, but you still should double check with a meat thermometer," Lauritzen Laurit-zen says. "A well done turkey, should reach 160-170F 160-170F in the deepest part of the breast and in the joint between the thigh and the body cavity. If the turkey is stuffed, the dressing should also exceed 165F." Lauritzen says that after the big feast you should work quickly at storing your leftovers for maximum safety. safe-ty. "Since you want to get the leftovers to a temperature below 40F as soon as possible, it is best to slice the turkey and wrap it in plastic. The same goes for the stuffing," Lauritzen says. "Put it in a pan no deeper than one inch for quick cooling." She says the traditional pumpkin pie can also be a bacteria problem if left unrefrigerated too long be- |