Food poisoning: How to avoid your turkey making you SICK on Christmas Day express.co.uk

Food poisoning can cause a range if symptoms including feeling sick, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and a high temperature of 38C or above.

One wrong move in your food preparation or storage can cause the infection.

On Christmas Day the centrepiece of most families meals will be a traditional turkey.
It begins: “After touching raw poultry or other raw meat, always wash your hands with warm water and soap, and dry them thoroughly.

“Don’t wash your turkey before you cook it. If you do, bacteria from raw poultry can splash onto worktops, dishes and other foods. Proper cooking will kill any bacteria.

“Always clean worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils with warm soapy water after they have touched raw poultry or meat.
“Never use the same chopping bard for raw poultry or meat and ready-to-eat food without washing it thoroughly with warm soapy water first. If possible, keep a separate chopping board just for raw meat and poultry.”

Cooking
When it comes to cooking your turkey make sure:

The meat is steaming hot all the way through

There’s no pink meat when you cut into the thickest part of the bird

The juices run clear when you pierce the turkey or press the thigh

Storing turkey leftovers
The health body advises: “Keep cooked meat and poultry in the fridge – if they are left out at room temperature, the bacteria that causes food poisoning can grow and multiply.