EBENSBURG (Cambria Co.)
Everyone loves getting pack
ages in the mail. Sometimes
they are gifts of food either
homemade or from mail order.
When it’s baked goods or shelf
stable canned items you usually
know whether it’s safe and what
to do with it. But what about
smoked turkeys, cheese and
sausage gift packs, and other
perishable items?
Whether you are giving or
receiving, there are some food
safety tips you need to keep in
Mail-Order Foods—Safe Or Suspect?
mind for these special gifts:
•Check with the company.
Ask the mail order company how
the gift will be packaged. It
should be packed in foam or
heavy corrugated cardboard. If
it’s a perishable item like meat
or poultry, it should be cold or
frozen and packed with a cold
source such as dry ice.
•Speedy Delivery. Ask the
company how the food will be
mailed. If it’s a perishable item,
it should be delivered as quickly
as possible ideally overnight.
Make sure perishable items and
the outer package are labeled
“KEEP REFRIGERATED” to
alert the recipient.
•How to Store and Serve.
Will the food item come with
storage and preparation instruc
tions? Some mail order food gift
items are of an unusual nature
and some recipients may not
know how to handle or prepare
them.
• No Surprises —Arrange for
delivery. Tell the recipient if the
company has promised a deliv-
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 5, 1998-611
ery date. Or alert the recipient
that “the gift is in the mail” so
that she or a neighbor can be
home to receive it. Otherwise it
may sit unsafely on the front
porch or at the post office for
hours or even days. Don’t have
perishable items delivered to an
office unless you know it will
arrive on a work day and there’s
refrigerator space available
there for keeping it cold.
When you receive a food gitt
by mail:
• Check the temperature.
According to Kathryn J.
Hostetler, Penn State
Cooperative Extension, when
you receive a food item marked
“keep refrigerated,” open it
immediately and check its tem
perature. Optimally, the food
should arrive frozen or partially
frozen with ice crystals still visi
ble, or at least, refrigerator cold
to the touch. If perishable food
arrives warm, notify the compa
ny and/or the person who sent
the gift. Do not eat the food,
the shi t’s rer nsibili'