leftovers

If you’re planning to host friends and family on Super Bowl Sunday, remember that no party is complete without a game plan for leftovers. And a good game plan starts with the end in mind. Strategizing now can help you prevent foodborne illness and reduce food waste later.

Thanksgiving Day is for family and friends. But Thanksgiving weekend is all about you and those amazing leftovers! Before you dig in, keep these tips handy so that leftovers can stay safely stored in the fridge or freezer.

The game is over and your team WON, or maybe not. But two things remain after the game — friendly rivalries and lots of leftovers. There are some important rules you need to follow regarding Super Bowl Party leftovers to ensure your loved ones don’t get foodborne illnesses after the game.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and all through the streets, 154 million consumers are moving their feet. All aim to get the best deal of the day, whether flat screens, jewelry or a 4K Blu-ray.

It’s over.

All of your guests have scraped their Thanksgiving dinner plates clean and have migrated from the dinner table to the couch.

While you may want to immediately relax and celebrate after preparing a successful meal, it’s important that you first refrigerate any leftovers within two hours. Prompt storage can prevent pathogenic bacteria that cause foodborne illness from growing on your leftovers. These bacteria can’t be smelled or tasted.

Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate all that is good in our lives and to spend it in the company of friends and family while enjoying great food.  It is also a time to reflect on the bounty of our food supply.  Each year, as I put away the leftovers from my Thanksgiving dinner, I marvel at the abundance.

I also can’t avoid pausing to consider how much food is wasted in this country.

USDA estimates that on average, American consumers waste about one-fifth of food that is available to them, equivalent to about $371 per person annually.  That’s enough money to buy about 21 whole turkeys for each person in the country.

“Would you like a doggy bag to take home?” asks the waiter. “That would be great” says the diner. Nearly half of her dinner remains on the plate and will make a quick second meal for another day.

But wait. Here’s the same diner calling the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Meat and Poultry Hotline the following day. “I put a restaurant doggy bag in the back seat of my car last night, and when I came out to drive to work, there it sat. Is it safe if I heat it up again?”

We hope you enjoyed our countdown to the Thanksgiving holiday, and turkey roasting tips! Now that the holiday is behind us, it’s time to think about what to do with the copious amounts of leftovers taking up room in our refrigerators.