Not just romaine: CDC warns that Thanksgiving turkey ‘can make people sick’

Around the holidays, health officials issue reminders to the public about the dangers of food poisoning because improperly cleaned or cooked food can sentence them to days of vomiting and diarrhea or even culminate in a life-threatening trip to the emergency room. In certain cases, the illness doesn’t set in until several days after a person has eaten, which can make it difficult to figure out what part of the meal might have gone bad.

The latest warning about romaine lettuce comes from the Food and Drug Administration out of an abundance of caution, because the strain that’s circulating can lead to kidney failure. Not every romaine lettuce head is infected, but because the FDA hasn’t been able to track the source of the infection, it has warned the public not to eat any of it. Grocery stores have been advised to pull products from shelves, and restaurants are urged not to serve it.

“This is especially important ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, when people will be sitting down for family meals,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement Tuesday. “We want to get this information out to consumers early.”

The warning comes at a time of year when government agencies are already busy helping to keep the public safe from food contamination, which are particularly concerning among older adults, pregnant women, or people undergoing chemotherapy. Most of these illnesses are the result of how people are handling food in the kitchen, and so agencies are waging online campaigns to talk about safe practices.

On Thanksgiving, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help answer questions about how to properly cook and store turkey, because an undercooked bird can lead to the growth of salmonella.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to wash their hands and kitchen counters often and warns against rinsing raw meat before cooking.

“Washing these foods makes it more likely for bacteria to spread to areas around the sink and countertops,” Marjorie Davidson, a consumer educator at FDA, said in a statement.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest even recommends bagging turkey at the grocery store so that it won’t touch other items in a customer’s cart.

The warning of caution about turkey comes as officials are also investigating a salmonella outbreak that was found last week to be linked to raw turkey products, but so far none has hit whole turkeys. Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Richard Blumenthal, both of New York, have urged the USDA to release the names of businesses that caused the illness, which sickened 164 people.

The CDC doesn’t break down illnesses that happen around Thanksgiving, but it estimates that each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.

People can also get sick if they leave the food out for too long afterward, or don’t eat leftovers within four days. Clostridium perfringens, a common bacterial food poisoning, grows in cooked foods left out at room temperature for more than two hours. Pangs associated with this illness start within 24 hours after eating.

“A good rule to follow is, when in doubt, throw it out,” Davidson said.