Did you know that over 48 million people in America deal with foodborne illnesses every single year. Holiday meals are actually a major culprit for this reason. 

It’s a challenge to make the food safe during this time of the year, and avoiding the food waste that occurs. 

When you package this however, it makes this safe, and it’s safe for the leftovers to be eaten, while also cutting down on this food waste.  Here, we’ll go over the best ways to package food so that it’s delicious and safe during this holiday season. 

Cooling Food Safely 

It’s very tempting to leave food sitting on the table like a buffet so that people can get more plates. However, leaving this for a long time is not a good idea, as it gives you a chance for the bacteria to grow, and foodborne illnesses will thrive with this.

The USDA does recommend storing your leftovers within 2 or so hours of cooking, so that you can manage and prevent food poisoning.

Hot food can be thrown in the fridge after the meal is done. Food that sits at the danger zone of room temperatures for too long are what create foodborne illnesses. 

You should also make sure that you put this in the right containers too. Larger amounts of food take a bit longer to cool completely, so you need to make sure that you’ve got the correct container. Turkey, casseroles, and even a giant dish may stay a bit warm once it’s in the fridge. 

You can prevent this from getting worse by dividing up the different dishes into tinier portions so that they cool much faster.  Package this into smaller meal-sized container options, so that you can just grab that, heat it, and then eat it. 

Choose something that’s shallow too, as this gives the food a chance to cool down faster, due to the smaller surface area. 

Get Airtight Packaging 

When you expose these leftovers to air, you’re basically giving these microorganisms a chance to feast on this. Plus, if you allow oxygen into this, it makes your leftovers brown, and it can make them smell quite bad. 

Airtight packaging is the best option for cooling your leftovers, and there are lots of options for this.

If you’ve got a vacuum sealer, vacuum sealing is the best way to store your food, as it offers a lot of packaging options, and is ideal for long-term food storage.  They’re also textured too in a lot of cases, so that the air fully escapes when sealing these. 

Twist top containers are another one that’s good for liquids, such as gravy. The lid screws on, offering a seal that’s airtight in order to protect this food.  It comes in a variety of shapes, materials, and sizes. For those that avoid plastic and also don’t want to worry about that, the other option is mason jars for tight food sealing.

Finally, you’ve got some resealable bags, which are great for removing these leftovers, and are the best for meals in the short-term. They also work well for a variety of positions due to the larger surface area so that the food cools down faster. Resealable bags aren’t good for the freezer, however. You should make sure that you divide the options for this into smaller portions before you freeze these, and then, you can throw them in the freezer, as it protects them from the freezer burn and the like that’s created as a result of this.

Make sure that you plan ahead with this to reduce the waste.