Insights from Food Safety Experts: The Shelf Life of Thanksgiving Leftovers

The Thanksgiving Day frenzy may be over, but the quest to consume the huge amounts of turkey, mashed potatoes and pie before they spoil, has begun. To help avoid any upset stomachs, proper food storage practices before and after the big meal are key.

Leftover food should be stored within two hours of cooking as recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services. These leftovers should be consumed within three to four days of refrigeration.

Reading ahead, you’ll get to know the exact measures to store and reheat leftovers. Also, find out the period within which turkey and sides can be safely eaten, as advised by food safety experts.

The timer starts immediately after your Thanksgiving meal is served. This is because bacteria multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees, also known as the "danger zone".

Food at room temperature, hot or cold, should not be left out longer than two hours. If the temperature is above 90 degrees, it's best to store the food within an hour. Any food left out for longer than two hours should ideally be discarded.

Refrigeration is not the only step for food safety. It's also essential to cool food quickly to prevent bacteria growth, which can be achieved by dividing large portions of food into smaller containers before refrigerating and sealing them properly.

Ellen Shumaker, PhD, suggests that cooling large batches of food in big containers without separating them into smaller ones can result in slower cooling in the center, thus encouraging bacterial growth.

The type of container used also matters. Containers should have a depth of less than 2 inches for faster heat dispersion. Refrigerator temperature also plays a crucial role and should ideally be 40 degrees or below as per USDA recommendations.

Last, but not least, is storing Thanksgiving desserts, especially pies. According to Shumaker, pies with high sugar content and acidity like apple pies can be safely kept at room temperature. But for ones using sugar substitutes, refrigeration is advised.

Pumpkin pies require different storage conditions dependant on whether they are store-bought or homemade. Store-bought pies are usually safe at room temperature. Homemade pies, however, should be refrigerated.

Shumaker also mentions that breads and cookies can be kept at room temperature provided they are covered, unless they contain cream, custard, cheese or meat, in which case they should be refrigerated.

Wade Syers, an extension specialist on food safety, recommends eating refrigerated leftovers within three to four days. However, you can extend this by freezing leftovers as long as the food freezes well.

While Syers acknowledges that some foods freeze better than others, he emphasizes that meat or cooked turkey can last in the freezer for two to six months. However, he advises against freezing salads, custards, foods with milk sauces or homemade eggnog.

Reheating frozen food is best done in small quantities. The food should be reheated to a safe temperature before eating with leftovers achieving an internal temperature of 165 degrees and soups, sauces, and gravies reaching a rolling boil.

According to Syers, desserts stored at room temperature should be consumed within a few days while those in the fridge can stay fresh for up to a week.

Food doesn’t have to look or smell off to make you sick—foodborne illness is the biggest risk in eating food that hasn’t been stored properly, or leftovers you’ve kept around for too long.

According to Schawn, you can become infected with any of the following bacteria: Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria, and Bacillus cereus. Those infections most commonly cause digestive woes, like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, but they can also lead to more serious complications.

Food poisoning isn’t a rare thing: Every year in the U.S., 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die—and everyone is at risk.

“Everyone can become sick from a foodborne pathogen,” said Detwiler. “The most vulnerable populations—the very young, the elderly, those with a compromised immune system, and those who are pregnant—are the ones most likely to become hospitalized and even die.”

The good news: Food poisoning is largely preventable with proper preparation, food storage, and reheating—and proper food safety is especially important around the holidays while entertaining family and friends.

“While this is rarely something that people ask for [during the holidays],” said Detwiler, “nobody wants a family holiday gathering to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.”