LISBON — With the turkey feast holiday fast approaching, the Columbiana County Health District is reminding residents of food safety tips to follow this holiday and every day throughout the year.

Environmental Director Laura Fauss shared the information during the health district board meeting last week.

“We want to make sure on Thanksgiving we’re doing everything we can to be safe and keep our guests from getting sick,” Fauss said.

Some of the suggestions include washing hands and kitchen surfaces before, during and after food prep, not using the same cutting boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat foods, and using a food thermometer instead of relying on the pop-up temperature indicator on the turkey, which needs to have the thickest part reaching an internal temp of 165 degrees (stuffing too).

She said to remember the two-hour rule for refrigerating all perishable items within two hours of coming out of the oven or refrigerator. After two hours, she said perishable items enter the danger zone where bacteria can grow, causing food to become unsafe. If items are left out for more than two hours, they should be thrown out to prevent foodborne illness.

Use small, shallow containers for leftovers because shallow containers help cool them more quickly. Freeze or consume food within four days, keeping in mind that the Monday after Thanksgiving is the last day to safely eat leftovers. To keep them longer, freeze them. When reheating in the microwave, cover and rotate the food for even heating and check for internal temperatures with a food thermometer.

More tips can be found on the district’s social media page.

In other business, she said to keep an eye out for ticks, reporting that the Ohio Department of Health is reporting an increased number of lyme disease and La Crosse encephalitis disease across the state. She referred to buckeyeticktest.osu.edu as a place to go for tick identification and tick borne disease testing.

mgreier@mojonews.com