When to Toss Thanksgiving Leftovers

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CLEVELAND - Whether it’s a turkey sandwich or another serving of mashed potatoes, one of the best parts about Thanksgiving is the leftovers.

But in order to safely enjoy round two of your Thanksgiving feast, you need to remember to put the food away shortly after everyone’s finished their first helping.

“Within two hours, you want to start packing the food up. When storing leftovers in the fridge, use shallow containers and put them above any sort of raw meats so they don’t get contaminated,” stressed Beth Czerwony, RD, a registered dietitian for Cleveland Clinic.

Czerwony explains leftovers need to be put away within two hours to keep them out of the temperature danger zone, which is between 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

You want to store the food in shallow, airtight containers to cool it faster and keep bacteria out.

Since leftovers in the fridge are only good for about three to four days – the Monday after Thanksgiving is your reminder to finish them up or toss them out.

If you can’t gobble up all that turkey by Monday, you can freeze it within the four days after Thanksgiving to keep it longer.

To help kill off any potentially harmful bacteria, Czerwony said to have a thermometer handy when warming up those leftovers.

“If you're reheating leftovers, you really want to make sure they reach a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's for any type of food – not just for the turkey,” Czerwony said.

Although anyone can suffer from food poisoning, Czerwony said those 65 years old and up as well as children are at higher risk of getting severely sick from foodborne illness.