‘Buy a meat thermometer to avoid food poisoning this Christmas'

Previous safefood research revealed that almost 80 per cent of Northern Ireland’s home cooks admitted

to not knowing the correct temperature their Christmas turkey must reach to be cooked safely and

are putting their friends and family at risk of food poisoning.

Safefood’’s ‘Trust the Meat Thermometer’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the issue.

Dr Linda Gordon, chief specialist in Food Science, safefood said, “This year we know that the focus on cost is a big feature of many people’s Christmas and so getting dinner right is more important than ever. With almost 80 per cent of homes cooking a turkey this year we want to support those home cooks to get it just right.

“My main recommendation is to use a meat thermometer. They are affordable, easy to use, and

add that extra layer of reassurance when making sure that foods like turkey is safely cooked.

“Whatever cooking method, timings or recipes used; you will know the turkey will be ready to eat

when you take it out of the oven and pop the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat

between the breast and leg and it reaches 75 degrees Celsius.”

“For lots of helpful tips including food safety advice, a cooking time calculator for your turkey and

tasty leftover recipes, visit www.safefood.net/christmas December is the busiest month of the year

on our website and last year, we had more than 80,000 people visit our site just between

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for practical advice.”

You can find everything you need to help you cook safely this Christmas

at www.safefood.net/christmas or follow safefood on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram

safefood has teamed up with Radio Presenter, Jordan Humphries and local Head Chef, Ben

Arnold to launch their ‘Trust the Meat Thermometer’ Christmas food safety campaign to help take

the stress out of cooking Christmas dinner and ensure that everyone has a safe and tasty

Christmas

Jordan and Ben said: “We will be taking to social media to give our fun and lighthearted take on cooking Christmas dinner this year that reminds people to cook their Christmas turkey all the way through to 75

degrees Celsius.

We are encouraging anyone cooking Christmas dinner this year to buy a meat thermometer as it will take the guess work out of cooking your Christmas turkey.

"It will help you avoid serving up food that isn’t cooked properly and making Christmas unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

“They are affordable, easy to use, and are the fail-safe way of making sure your meat is cooked."