Households of Ireland, take note – Christmas leftovers must be used up within two or three days or they risk becoming a health hazard.
Guidelines from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) clarifies that leftovers should be kept covered and consumed as soon as possible.
It's an important update for those of us struggling through a mountain of spare ham and turkey after the big day – and the FSAI says we should be clearing out our fridges regularly to make sure out-of-date foods are discarded.
The FSAI's advice reads: "The storage instructions on the labels of food products should be followed and food that needs to be refrigerated should be put in the fridge as soon as possible after purchasing.
"Leftovers should be kept covered in the fridge and used within 2-3 days.
"In addition, it is good practice to clear out the fridge on a regular basis to ensure that any out of date foods are discarded."
The FSAI also says cooked food that's not being consumed immediately should be cooled down as quickly as possible and refrigerated pronto.
Once the steam has evaporated from a food, it should be popped straight in the fridge – not left on countertops to cool down completely, as many of us might think.
And another handy tip: to speed up the cooling process, large quantities of food (like stews, for instance, or roast joints of Christmas meat), should be portioned into smaller lots.
That said, the FSAI also warns that we shouldn't be overloading the fridge with warm food, because this will raise the overall temperature and increase the risk of bacteria growing in our foodstuffs.
For families left without power – for example, those whose electricity is on the blink as a result of Storm Bella – the FSAI's advice is to check that the fridge temperature hasn't risen above five degrees for a substantial time.
If it has, your safest bet is to throw out the foods within.
