Don’t let food poisoning ruin your Christmas celebration

The world over, a festive season is synonymous with feasting. It is usually a time when kitchens work overtime, and tables overflow with culinary abundance. However, for all the joy these lavish meals bring, they also usher in a period of heightened risk for a globally common, yet utterly miserable affliction: food poisoning.

The problem of foodborne illness is common, cutting across continents and development levels. The World Health Organisation estimates that as many as one in ten people globally fall ill each year from eating contaminated food, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with children and those in low- and middle-income countries bearing the heaviest burden.

While Western nations see spikes around events like Christmas and Thanksgiving, often driven by the complex logistics of cooking a massive bird like a turkey or dealing with copious amounts of leftovers, the underlying failures—inadequate cooking, chilling, and cross-contamination—are the same everywhere. This global trend of increased incidents during high-volume cooking periods finds a particularly dangerous expression in countries like Nigeria, where existing vulnerabilities in the food chain are amplified by the frantic pace of celebration.

The situation in Nigeria, where the festive season often brings a whirlwind of travel, large extended family gatherings, and intense catering, is particularly alarming. Reports show that food poisoning is a significant public health issue, with tens of thousands of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths recorded annually from foodborne diseases. This often costs the economy billions, or even trillions, of naira in health expenses and lost productivity.

The truth is that the risks faced in a typical Nigerian home during Christmas go beyond simply undercooking meat or chicken; they extend into foundational challenges. For instance, the “4 Cs” of global food safety—cleaning, cooking, chilling, and cross-contamination—are severely challenged by factors unique to the environment: unreliable power supply leading to fridge and freezer failures; dependence on local markets where proper handling and cold-chain integrity are often lacking; and the preparation of complex, traditional dishes involving long cooling times or repeated heating.

Now, when a celebration turns sour, the initial signs of food poisoning are sadly familiar across all cultures: a sudden onset of nausea, relentless vomiting, severe diarrhoea, and gripping abdominal cramps, often accompanied by a headache and fever. These symptoms, caused by pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella and Bacillus cereus or viruses, usually start a few hours to a few days after ingesting the contaminated meal.

While most healthy adults recover from food poisoning within a couple of days with only rest and plenty of fluids, for vulnerable Nigerians—the young, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions—this illness can rapidly lead to severe dehydration and require urgent hospitalisation, placing an added strain on the already overburdened health facilities during the holidays.

A conscious and determined effort to elevate food safety practices is required to prevent this misfortune sometimes experienced during the festive season. It is, therefore, essential that we learn from the global safety standards and apply them diligently within our context. This means thorough handwashing with soap and clean water before and after handling any food, especially raw meat and poultry. It also includes dedicating separate chopping boards and utensils for raw and cooked items to avoid cross-contamination. Critically, we must ensure all meals, particularly any meat and poultry, are cooked through to the correct internal temperature.

For those massive pots of rice, stews, and soups prepared for a crowd, the chilling step is non-negotiable. Leftovers must be rapidly cooled, ideally within two hours, and stored in a functioning refrigerator that is not overcrowded. This, of course, requires planning around potential power cuts. And leftovers should only be reheated once, ensuring they are steaming hot throughout.

In view of the common challenges of unstable electricity supply during peak cooking times in many Nigerian households, a specific “power cut plan” is essential to maintain safety.

This plan focuses on three pillars of defence: 1) Keep it chilled! By limiting the opening of the fridge or freezer doors and using cooler boxes packed with ice or frozen cold packs for extremely perishable items, you can buy critical time. 2) Cook and eat promptly! If the power returns, cook food thoroughly and consume it immediately. Be especially strict about reheating leftovers only once. 3) Hygiene and water! Always use clean, safe water to wash hands and utensils, maintaining high hygiene standards irrespective of the power situation.

The truth is that consumption of foods prepared by street vendors or external caterers during the festive rush also presents a unique challenge. While convenient, the source of water, the temperature control, and the handling practices used must be questioned, particularly for high-risk items like salads, dairy-based sauces, and poorly heated meat. When purchasing food outside the home, look for premises that appear clean, have staff wearing appropriate clothing, and demonstrate active temperature control (e.g., hot food is kept steaming hot, and cold food is chilled).

If the unexpected happens, and you or a loved one is struck by the telltale symptoms of food poisoning, the immediate action is simple: focus on hydration. Sip clean water or an oral rehydration solution to replace the vital salts and fluids lost to vomiting and diarrhoea. Rest is paramount. Medical attention, which can be life-saving, must be sought immediately if the symptoms include blood in the stool or vomit, or if signs of severe dehydration, such as dizziness, sunken eyes, or passing very little urine, are present, particularly for a child or an elderly person.

We may be tempted sometimes by the joyous rush of the festive season to cut corners, but the price of that haste is too high, especially when foodborne illness claims lives and destroys the precious moments of reunion.

From the large banquets of Europe and America to the sprawling kitchens of a Nigerian family compound, the universal truth holds: a safe meal is a well-prepared meal. We must not allow negligence in our kitchens to become the truly bitter taste of the holidays, turning celebration into sorrow. Let us give the gift of health this season by prioritising clean, properly cooked, and promptly chilled food, ensuring our most precious memories are made around the table, not in a hospital ward or chemist shop.

Ojenagbon, a health communication expert and certified management trainer and consultant, lives in Lagos.