Super Bowl Provides Giant Opportunity for New Food Ideas

            At Super Bowl parties, the food can be as much fun as the game.

            As a celebration, Super Bowl Sunday has become another national feast day, and there will be parties featuring plenty of food, which is not always the best thing for your health.

             So try something New and take a Giant step in the right direction by looking at the snacks you’ll serve.

            “In addition to other snacks, you could serve apple slices and fresh vegetables,” Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour said.  “Just consider offering a healthy option to pizza and wings. You may also find the price of those healthy options is very much to your liking.”

            Menu planning also helps party hosts prepare for guests who may have diabetes or require other special diets. Another key to hosting a successful, healthy party is to control alcohol use.  

            “Be sure to have some alcohol-free drinks available and designate a non-drinking driver before the game,” Dr. Pour said. “Think about this – consuming one drink per quarter with one during halftime puts a person in the binge-drinking category.”

            Healthy also means safe, so please remember these Five Rules of Food Safety:

·         Be clean – use soap and water to clean your hands before you handle foods and clean surfaces before using them for food preparation.

·         Remember to separate – keep cooked foods separate from ready-to-eat foods. Never use utensils on cooked food that were used earlier on raw foods. Don’t put cooked foods on plates that were used for raw foods without thoroughly cleaning the plates first.

·         Always cook thoroughly– food should be cooked to a safe internal temperature and use a meat thermometer to make sure that has been done. Color does not tell you if something is done.

·         Definitely chill – food should be chilled promptly after serving and when food is being transported from one place to another. Your refrigerator should be set at 40 degrees or lower.

·         You should remember to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

             One final recommendation from Dr. Pour: “Enjoy the game.”