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Food Safety Hot Topics
Shipping style important to preserve food gifts
MURFREESBORO, Ark. - There's nothing like finding a parcel of homemade
cookies reduced to microscopic crumbs to turn holiday hope into holiday horror.
"For people who eagerly await those holiday 'CARE' packages from home,
there's a lot riding on that box of goodies," says Robbie McKinnon, a Pike
County agent with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. "So
it's important to pack it properly to ensure a gift from the heart doesn't
become a situation where the recipient says, 'it's the thought that counts."
She offers tips for helping ensure your gift of food arrives edibly:
- Ship in a sturdy box.
- Wrap box in two layers of brown paper.
- Use permanent markers to label outside of the box. Use
recommended packing tape.
- Label outside clearly making sure recipient's address is
complete and correct.
- Depending on the food, write "Keep Refrigerated" on outside of
the box.
- Alert recipient of the expected arrival date.
- Do not send to business addresses or where there will not be
adequate refrigerator storage.
- Do not send packages at the end of the week. Send them at the
beginning of the week so they do not sit in the post office or
mailing facility over the weekend.
When sending items that need to stay cool, McKinnon recommends adding frozen
gel packs or dry ice.
"Dry ice requires special handling," she said. "Don't touch with your bare
hands, never let it come in direct contact with foods and always warn the
recipient that there's dry ice in the box, by writing 'contains dry ice' on the
outside of the box."
If you're lucky enough to receive gifts of food, be sure they're stored
properly, McKinnon said.
- Canned or jarred meat: Refrigerate if so labeled. After
opening, store in the refrigerator up to a week.
- Processed or hard cheese: Safe at room temperature, but
refrigeration prolongs the quality.
- "Cook-Before-Eating" Ham: Before cooking, this type of ham can
be refrigerated for up to one week. After cooking, refrigerate for
up to five days.
- Country Ham: Shelf-stable for one year if unsliced. Refrigerate
for two to three months if sliced. Once cooked, refrigerate for five
to seven days.
- Game Birds: Keep refrigerated for up to two days raw or four
days after cooking.
- Sausage labeled "Keep Refrigerated" can be stored in the fridge
for up to a week.
- Hard and dry sausages that are unopened can be kept in the
cupboard or pantry for four to six weeks or in the refrigerator for
six months. After opening, store for up to three weeks in the
refrigerator.
- Frozen Food: Stays safe indefinitely while frozen, but it may
lose quality and flavor.
For more information on food safety, visit
www.uaex.edu.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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