Thanksgiving

Not the veggies or the pumpkin pie: You won’t believe which Thanksgiving dish sends the most people to the hospital

Ahead of the 2025 holiday season, experts are warning of the dangers posed by a central element of any Thanksgiving meal.

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William Allen

British journalist and translator who joined Diario AS in 2013. Focuses on soccer – chiefly the Premier League, LaLiga, the Champions League, the Liga MX and MLS. On occasion, also covers American sports, general news and entertainment. Fascinated by the language of sport – particularly the under-appreciated art of translating cliché-speak.

Update: Nov 15th, 2025 05:07 EST

A roast turkey is the centerpiece of many Americans’ Thanksgiving meal - but it is also at the heart of a host of holiday hazards.

Ahead of this year’s celebrations - Thanksgiving Day 2025 is on Thursday, November 27 - experts are warning of the Turkey-related calamities that can strike.

Food poisoning

Raw turkey can carry germs such as Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens and Campylobacter - bacteria that are major causes of food poisoning.

One in six Americans get a foodborne disease each year, according to the U.S.’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Many such cases are “linked to foods commonly served during the holidays”, like turkey, notes the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

How to avoid food poisoning from your Thanksgiving turkey:

The CDC provides detailed guidelines on how to prevent food poisoning, by properly handling your turkey at every stage of its Thanksgiving preparation and consumption: from storage, to thawing, to cooking, to reheating.

Storage and thawing:

Before thawing, make sure to store your raw turkey in your freezer, whose temperature must be 0ºF or below.
Thaw your turkey thoroughly in your fridge, in cold water, or in the microwave.
Never thaw your turkey at room temperature.

Handling:

Wash your hands after handling raw turkey.
Do not place other ingredients on chopping boards or plates used for raw turkey.
Wash all chopping boards, plates and utensils thoroughly after using them to prepare raw turkey.

Cooking:

If you’re roasting your turkey in the oven - three-quarters of Americans choose this method - you need to cook it at a temperature of at least 325ºF.
Cooking times depend on the turkey’s size. Find out how long yours should stay in the oven with this chart provided by the U.S.’s Department of Agriculture (USDA).
You can make sure your turkey is fully cooked by using a food thermometer to check the bird’s internal temperature: it should have hit 165ºF.
If you have cooked stuffing inside your turkey, you should also make sure the stuffing has reached this temperature. “Germs can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165°F," the CDC says.

Leftovers:

After your Thanksgiving meal, store leftover turkey in the fridge - at 40ºF or below - within two hours of cooking.
The CDC explains that Clostridium perfringens can grow in cooked foods stored at room temperature. “Clostridium perfringens outbreaks occur most often in November and December,” the agency says.
You should consume your leftover turkey within thee to four days, and always heat it at 165ºF before eating.

Check out the CDC’s guidance on preparing, handling and storing turkey in full. You’ll also find more detailed instructions on how to handle leftovers in this USDA explainer.

“Turkey deserves special attention”

“I think turkey deserves special attention when it comes to Thanksgiving food safety [...],” Sara Bratager, a food safety expert from the Institute of Food Technologists, told an interview with HuffPost this week.

”It’s often handled in large quantities by people who only cook it once or twice a year and there are several points in the process where things can easily go wrong.”

Per the HHS, major symptoms of food poisoning include nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, and loose stools. “HHS advises individuals who have signs of severe illness, which may also include a fever higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit or dehydration, to consult a health care provider,” the agency says.

Turkey-related accidents: lacerations, explosions...

Aside from food poisoning, a major Thanksgiving turkey threat arises when we put down our glass of wine - and pick up a sharp carving knife to slice the bird up.

Speaking to Live Science, Robert Glattner, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, warned: “Don’t carve under the influence.” Glattner added that he has witnessed “a lot of finger lacerations and thumb lacerations”.

Joseph Garber, of Syosset Hospital in New York, also told Live Science that people have been known to skewer themselves with turkey bone as they’ve carving.

While most Americans oven cook their turkey, some opt for alternative options such as deep frying - a method that can lead to accidents.

Glattner explains to Live Science that, when wet or partially frozen, a turkey can catch fire or explode when placed in the oil. “We’ve had fires that singed hair and eyebrows, and splash burns to the face,” he revealed. You’ll find advice on deep frying your turkey, and on a range of other cooking methods, on this page on the USDA website.

Please note that this article draws on information provided by food safety professionals and authorities, but its writer is not himself a qualified expert in the field. If in doubt, please directly consult guidance provided by the CDC, the USDA, and other appropriate expert sources.