Storage Tips For Sending Food Gifts
COLLEGE PARK, MD As
the holiday season approaches,
food catalogs start showing up in
mailboxes across America. Every
thing from smoked salmon to
duck pate to chocolate truffles and
hazelnut torte are advertised as the
perfect Christmas or Hanukkah
gift. But are they safe?
“Food items are popular holi
day gifts,” says Dr. Mark A. Kan
tor, a food and nutrition specialist
with the University of Maryland
System Cooperative Extension
Service. "And, stored properly,
they should present no food safety
problems.”
Some food gifts, for example,
must be refrigerated, and bear a
label to that effect
“lf a product is labeled ‘Keep
Refrigerated,’ that’s a warning
that not all the bacteria have been
inhibited or destroyed,” Kantor
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explains. “Refrigeration is neces
sary to keep the food safe to eat.”
Contrary to popular belief,
smoking of meats such as turkey
and hams doesn’t eliminate the
need for refrigeration. These items
are smoked for flavor, not
preservation.
Country hams are a different
story. With their high salt content
and dryness, they are safe at room
temperature because bacteria
can’t grow on them.
Other gift foods canned
meats, vacuum-packed steaks,
sausage and cheese assortments,
for example may or may not
need refrigeration depending on
how they were processed.
“Some canned meat products
are heated to 250 F, just like veg-
etables and other canned goods,”
says Robert A. Savage, a food
technologist with the Processed
Products division of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
(USDA). “This effectively steril
izes them so they are shelf-stable.
But some canned hams receive
only a mild heat treatment after
canning and therefore are not
commercially sterile. These hams
must be refrigerated (before and
after the can is opened).”
Vacuum packaging, while inhi
biting the growth of spoilage bac
teria, encourages other organisms
like Clostridium botulinum that
thrive in low-oxygen conditions.
(Clostridium botulinum produces
a toxin that can cause botulism, a
sometimes fatal form of food
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poisoning.)
“Vacuum-packed steaks are as
perishable as raw chicken and
should be treated in the same
way,” says Savage.
Some sausages and cheeses in
gift assortments don’t need refrig
eration. They are shelf-stable due
to brining, drying and, sometimes,
preservatives.
To help consumers store meat
and dairy gifts safely, USDA has
prepared the following chart.
Food Gifts: How to Store
Them, How Long They’ll Last.
Cans or Jars of Meat - Refrig
erate if so labeled; otherwise
shelf-stable 2-5 years. After open
ing, store in refrigerator up to a
week.
Cheese, Processed or Hard -
Safe at room temperature, but
refrigeration prolongs quality.
(Soft cheeses, such as brie, must
be refrigerated at all times.)
“Cook-Before-Eating” Ham
Refrigerate up to 1 week. After
cooking, refrigerate up to 5 days.
Country Ham - Shelf-stable 1
year if unsliced. Refrigerate 2 to 3
months if sliced. Once cooked,
refrigerate 5-7 days.
Game Birds - Keep refrigerated
up to 2 days raw or 4 days after
cooking.
Sausage Labeled “Keep
Refrigerated” Store refriger
ated up to 1 week.
Sausage, Hard/Dry If
unopened, can be kept in the
cabinet 4-6 weeks, in the refriger
ator 6 months. After opening,
store up to 3 weeks in the
refrigerator.
* FREEZER NOTE Frozen
food stays safe indefinitely but
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may lose quality and flavor.
WARNING: Don’t freeze canned
food. Expanding contents may
burst can seams, causing leakage
and rusting.
Candy, fruitcakes, plum pud
dings and other confections sel
dom pose health problems.
“These products contain sugar,
rum, spices and other ‘preserving’
elements that have been used
since the Middle Ages,” says Kan
tor. “They can be shipped and
stored at room temperature. About
the only thing you need to be con
cerned with is damage or breakage
of the package, especially if it is
glass or ceramic.”
The one possible health hazard
in the dessert category is cheese
cake. Because it includes fresh
cream cheese, it must be kept cold
to avoid spoilage. For this reason,
vendors are advised to ship
cheesecake frozen solid. Consum
ers should then refrigerate the
cheesecake upon receipt.
If you have questions regarding
the safety of food gifts, contact a
home economics agent at your
local Cooperative Extension Ser
vice office. Phone numbers arc
included in county (and Baltimore
city) listings in the blue pages of
the telephone directory.
Another source of information
is USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hot
line, which operates weckedays
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST. Call
1-800-535-4555 (Washington,
D.C., area residents should call
202-447-3333).
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