If you are shopping for or cooking the Thanksgiving dinner this year, here are a few things that you can do to be sure that the food that you will be serving food is safe and of the best quality:
Plan out your meal and shopping list in advance, and take a moment to check out product recalls or alerts with the Food and Drug Administration.
When placing items in your cart, check for expiration dates. Your products should include words such as “sell by”, “use by”, or “best by” dates.
Although you may have a few extra days or weeks to use products that contain a “sell by” or “best by” date, you may want to steer clear of expired products that are past their “use by” dates. If your groceries are delivered or filled by a store’s pick-up service, check out these dates as soon as possible. Ask for adjustments if recalled or expired products have been included in your order.
Also, make sure that you are following safe preparation, cooking, and storage of food that you are serving. Food safety.gov has some great information on their website to guide you on these practices.
