RALEIGH -- Thanksgiving is almost here and many of us are already gearing up to prepare our holiday meals. Whether you're traveling with your dishes or preparing them at home, food safety is incredibly important.  

  • The CDC says roughly 3,000 people die each year from food borne illnesses.
  • Thanksgiving is the only time many cook a full turkey, a dish we aren't used to handling.
  • 97 percent of consumers fail to properly clean their hands before and during meals. 

USDA statistics show one in six Americans get sick from food borne illnesses each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that results in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. As many people prepare special meals over the Thanksgiving holiday, USDA Food Safety Expert Tanya Brown says it’s a time to be especially careful. Quite often, Thanksgiving is the only time we cook a full turkey, a dish many of us aren’t used to handling. We also are typically cooking for larger numbers of people, which can cause us to change our regular habits.

A USDA study found that consumers fail to properly clean their hands before and during meals 97 percent of the time, and additionally more than 80 percent of participants inadvertently contaminate food and other surfaces.  Spice containers, soap dispensers and cutting boards are often the most frequently contaminated surfaces according to the USDA.

Brown says rushed hand washing and cross-contamination often increases the risk of food-borne illness. The USDA says to not only wash your hands, but properly clean surfaces and cook your food long enough at the proper temperature.  Finally, be sure to properly store food at the right temperature and for the proper length of time.

To learn more about food safety practices this Thanksgiving, you can visit the USDA’s Food Safety website or call their Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854). 

That hotline is open weekdays from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., and 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.  Families can also access "Ask Karen," an online database of answers to specific questions related to preventing food-borne illnesses available 24/7.