COUNTY LIFE
Don’t let foodborne illness dampen your Super Bowl Party
As excitement for this year’s Super Bowl grows, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) encourages consumers to use safe food handling practices at a championship level and avoid becoming one of the estimated 48 million Americans who gets sick from foodborne illnesses each year.
The Super Bowl draws over 100 million television viewers who consume approximately 1.3 billion chicken wings during game day parties. With an average National Football League game taking more than 3 hours to play, Americans will be mixing plenty of football watching with food during Super Bowl parties.
At these parties, it is vital to keep foods out of the “Danger Zone,” which is the temperature range between 40 °F and 140 °F. When foods are left in the “Danger Zone,” bacteria can multiply rapidly, causing a single bacterium to multiply to 17 million in 12 hours. Avoid serving Super Bowl favorites, such as pizza and chicken wings, at room temperature for the entire game.
When serving food or ordering takeout food, use the following game plan:
- If warm takeout foods are to be served immediately, keep them at 140 °F or above by placing in chafing dishes, preheated warming trays or slow cookers.
- If take-out foods will not be served immediately, either keep them warm in a preheated oven, or divide the food into smaller portions or pieces, place in shallow containers, and refrigerate. At serving time, reheat to 165 °F.
- Cold foods that are served should be kept at 40 °F or below, which can be done by nesting serving dishes in bowls of ice. Avoid storing food outside, where the sun can quickly warm foods in plastic storage containers and animals can get into.
- Start a game day tradition by using a food thermometer to ensure foods being served to guests are not in the “Danger Zone.”
To ensure home prepared chicken wings are safe, follow these tips:
- Do not wash raw chicken wings. Sixty-seven percent of respondents in a 2016 FDA food safety survey indicated they washed raw chicken parts; however washing will not destroy pathogens and may increase the risk of contaminating other foods and surfaces.
- Ensure chicken wings are safe to eat by verifying they have reached an internal temperature of 165 °F. Take the temperature of multiple wings in the thickest part of the wing being careful to avoid the bone.
If you need food safety coaching, call your personal coaches at the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or chat live with a food safety specialist at AskKaren.gov, available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, in English or Spanish. Learn more about key food safety practices at foodsafety.gov and on Twitter @USDAFoodSafety.
COUNTY LIFE
Bowie, Nocona libraries wrap up summer reading this week
Local libraries wrap up their children’s summer reading programs this week.
The Bowie Public Library brings the popular Creature Teacher with all their spectacular animals for the final event on July 23 at the Bowie Community Center.
The program begins at 10 am. The children also will receive their prize books for their summer logs.
The Nocona Public Library ends its program at 10 a.m. on July 24 at the H.J. Justin Building at 100 Clay Street. The program will be “Our Own Action Heroes -” Nocona fire, police and EMTs.
Top photo – Smokey Bear visiting Bowie last week at summer reading.
COUNTY LIFE
Color added to outside kennels at Bowie Animal Shelter
Rachel and Roger Whitaker gave this metal storage container a fresh look with this colorful mural at the Bowie Animal Shelter. (Photo by Barbara Green)
COUNTY LIFE
Youngsters attend swimming lessons this week
Swim lessons for youngsters of all ages were conducted the past two weeks at the city pool. It was a good place to be during this summer heat. See more photos in the weekend News. (Photos by Barbara Green)
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