Do you have that one kid that you blame for everything? I may be in the minority here, but when spoons go missing or there is a mess in the kitchen, I kind of know which kid to blame. Or at least I think I do. Do you ever have that one friend that you blame for everything when traveling together? I know my friends do – because I am that friend. Even if I am not in the same state as my friends, if any travel woes happen, I am always to blame. Or so they think. I take it in good stride and so does my kid, even though we both know that we are not to blame for every instance.

I feel like poultry meat is in the same boat. Consumers blame poultry meat for all Salmonella-related illnesses. Seems a bit unfair to always be the culprit.

I have a good friend who always asks me food safety questions regarding poultry. The week of Thanksgiving, it was an interesting question. He wanted to take turkey breast meat, stuff it with turkey dark meat, then stuff that with dirty rice and wanted to cook all that using sous vide. The food sounded great. The concept freaked me out a bit. He asked about the time and temperature for cooking. He wanted to cook 150F for 5 hours. I didn’t really have an answer for sous vide, so he googled it. His concern was 100% related to ensuring the dark meat was cooked appropriately.

While I understand that breast meat and dark meat have different cooking times and temperatures for quality, the end point temperature is the same for safety. However, my freak out wasn’t about the meat, it was about the dirty rice stuffing. Spore former’s toxin production can happen during inappropriate temperatures of cooking and cooling. While I have no data on this exact scenario, I can take a best guess approach and I suggested removing the rice stuffing from the equation.

After all, food safety is not just about the meat.

I appreciate my friend always reaching out and thinking about food safety during meal preparations for holidays. I also know that not everyone thinks food safety, and especially food safety of all the sides that accompany the center of the plate meat dish (turkey!). Sides can be culprits for food borne illnesses, just like any of my other three kids can be blamed for the mess or missing spoons.

I know that everyone will have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal by the time you read this blog. And I hope it was an enjoyable but uneventful GI illness related Thanksgiving. We have another holiday right around the corner. Let’s remember food safety practices for the center of the plate turkey and let’s not forget food safety practices regarding our yummy side dishes. They matter too.

It's not always about the meat

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