One in four risks food poisoniing from Christmas dinner leftovers

CANNOCK, UK - More than one in four people are putting themselves at risk of Christmas dinner food poisoning because they leave leftovers out in their kitchens for too long, shows new research by Microban.

“The golden rule is not to let food sit out at room temperature for longer than a couple of hours. After that, bacteria can grow quickly, potentially doubling in number every 20 minutes and massively increasing the chances that you might spending the holiday period feeling pretty ill.”

Out of those surveyed*, 27% left out leftover Christmas dinner food unrefrigerated in their kitchens for a day or longer – massively increasing the chances that bacteria which cause a range of common tummy bugs will grow rapidly.

Alison Southcombe, director of marketing at Microban, said: “There are all kinds of great ‘eat up’ meals that can be made with Christmas dinners leftovers but our research shows that people are taking risks.

“The golden rule is not to let food sit out at room temperature for longer than a couple of hours. After that, bacteria can grow quickly, potentially doubling in number every 20 minutes and massively increasing the chances that you might spending the holiday period feeling pretty ill.

“Of course, this applies not just to your Christmas dinner leftovers but to uncooked buffet finger food. It shouldn’t be left out for long periods of time and should be kept refrigerated until you are ready to eat.”

Microban’s research also showed that more than 15% of people keep Christmas dinner leftovers in their fridge for more than 2-3 days, which again is too long.

Alison added: “Really, you should eat up any leftovers stored in the fridge within three days because, after that, the risk of food poisoning starts to rise rapidly.”

Microban is the world market leader it antibacterial technology. The company has licensed its technologies to more than 250 partners worldwide - including Whirlpool, Bissell, Rubbermaid, Tefal, Dupont? Reebok and many others.

* Research from a sample of 884 people carried out by Toluna Quicksurveys for Microban.

Photo credit: www.momdoesreviews.com

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