With Australian Food Safety Week just around the corner (from the 9th of November to the 16th of November), the organisers have announced one of the focuses of that week. With 5.4 million people in Australia getting sick from consuming food that is contaminated with bacteria or a virus, these tips might help you stay healthy.
With around a third of these foodborne illnesses caused by errors in home cooking, these tips can save you and your family a nasty trip to the doctors. Australian Food Safety Week announced that their theme for this year is Temperature Danger Zone – keeping hot food hot and cold food cold.
The following are fundamental steps that everyone should keep to uphold good food safety habits;
- Clean: Remember to clean your hands before preparing food! Remember the 20/20 rule: wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water then dry hands for 20 seconds before starting to cook
- Chill: The food that is meant to be chilled…stays chilled! This may sound simple but more than often, food is left in hot cars or put in refrigerators that are not cold enough. A fridge thermometer should be used to check the temperature. The temperature should be adjusted in line with changing seasons and the amount stored.
- Cook: Cook your food well through. This will minimise the risk of food poisoning.
- Separate: Cross contamination is one of the biggest ways for foodborne diseases to spread. To avoid cross-contamination keep raw and cooked foods separate when storing and preparing. Keep raw meats at the bottom of the fridge so that their juices won’t leak to other products.
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