On Super Bowl Sunday, don't drop the ball on food safety

Food safety danger zone: Bacteria grow rapidly Between 40 degrees and 140 degrees.

At Super Bowl parties, dropped passes and missed tackles should be the only things making football fans' stomachs churn. Leaving food out for more than two hours can be hazardous to your health and that of your guests, cautions a UC Cooperative Extension nutrition expert.

You may be thinking, “I've eaten food that sat out longer than two hours and not thrown up.” Consider yourself lucky.

“We keep learning more about foodborne illness,” says Patti Wooten Swanson, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition advisor in San Diego County. “We probably did get sick, but we thought it was something else, like the 24-hour flu.”

She added that kids, diabetics, pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to foodborne illnesses.

For Super Bowl Sunday and throughout the year, Wooten Swanson offers these food safety tips:

• Thaw turkey or meat in the refrigerator.
• Don't wash raw meat or poultry in the sink before cooking.
• Use a meat thermometer to determine when meat or poultry is done.
• Put leftovers in the refrigerator within two hours.
• On the fourth day, throw leftovers away.

Guacamole and salsa shouldn't be left out for longer than 2 hours.

Thawing foods correctly and storing them at the right temperatures is important, said Wooten Swanson.

“Bacteria grow very rapidly,” she said. “From 40 degrees to 140 degrees is what we call the danger zone. We encourage you to get food out of that temperature range as soon as possible. Don't let food sit on the table after you finish eating and go to watch TV.”

She also recommends not leaving food out the length of the game.

“Chips are fine to leave out,” Wooten Swanson said, “But put the salsa and guacamole in small containers, then put out new bowls at halftime. Take away the original containers to wash or discard. You don't want to refill a bowl that has been out for 2 hours.”

Read more