This Black Friday, millions of Americans will hit the malls in search of tantalizing deals. But in the refrigerator at home something far less appealing may be lurking. That’s because failing to properly refrigerate those Thanksgiving leftovers can increase the risk of developing food-borne illness. 

A lack of understanding of proper food safety leads to many cases of illnesses each year during the holidays. Although most cases are mild and cause symptoms only for a day or two, it can be a very unpleasant few days.

One common food storage mistake people make is overfilling the refrigerator, which prevents it from circulating air to properly cool the food. This is necessary to keep food safe and ensure Thanksgiving leftovers eaten on Black Friday and beyond don't make anyone sick.

Another mistake is leaving out food for too long before refrigerating or freezing the leftovers. To best keep food-borne bacteria from growing, put away the food within two hours of cooking it. The best way to store leftover turkey is by cutting into small pieces and placing it in a separate container from the stuffing and potatoes. Using containers that are two inches high or less also helps limit bacterial growth.

A good way to prevent from making these mistakes is to prepare for storing the leftovers before cooking the meal. Clean out the fridge ahead of time to make enough space and make sure you have enough clean, shallow containers available. After cooking all day then stuffing yourself, you may be tempted to cut corners when storing leftovers. Preparing ahead of time can make safe storage of your leftovers easy and make your Black Friday leftover experience a good one. And you won’t even have to wait in line.

For more information on food safety, see the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. If you have questions about food-borne illness, ask the experts on Healia Health Communities.

_{Adapted from UPI release}

_{Photo: Tokyofoodcast, Flickr, Creative Commons}