Health
Don’t let your food bite back Print E-mail
Page 1 of 2
A recent report published by the Food Standards Agency says that five million people believe they have suffered from food poisoning. But despite their worries, only a third of people interviewed understood the "best before" and "use by" labels on food and just over a half bothered to check them.
Furthermore, only four in ten people had a fridge thermometer. Virtually all of them said they knew the correct temperature to store food, but only six were correct.

Food-related illness in the home increases at Christmas and during the summer months. The Christmas turkey, which has not been thawed properly and subsequently not cooked thoroughly, is a common source of food-related illness in the home. We also buy more at Christmas and cram the fridge to bursting point, making it impossible for cold air to circulate and keep food cool.

The summer months see an increase in popularity of the family barbecue. Dad's best efforts at being chef often result in charred food on the outside while it remains undercooked in the middle.

Bacteria that cause food-related illness in humans such as Salmonella or Campylobacter are referred to as pathogens. Simply through proper cooking, storage and cleaning techniques, these pathogens can be reduced to safe levels. The following advice will help you avoid food-related illness in your home and assist you in understanding those confusing date labels on food.

What temperature is it safe to store food at?

Cold food must be kept at or below 5°C in your refrigerator. Hot food must be kept at or above 63°C. If you are catering, say, for a church fête or similar function, cold food can be kept above 5°C for a single period of up to four hours while it is being displayed for sale or service, for example, on a buffet or cheese board. At the end of this time any food that is left must be disposed of. Similarly, hot food can be kept at 63°C for a single period of up to two hours, after which it must be either cooled down to 5°C or lower as soon as possible, or disposed of.

Fridge temperature

Check the temperature of all your fridges and freezers at least once a day. If a temperature display is not fitted to your refrigerator then buy a refrigerator thermometer. Avoid cramming the refrigerator: cold air needs to circulate in order to keep all the contents adequately chilled.

Cross-contamination

Raw food contains bacteria, including bacteria that can cause food poisoning. If raw food is cooked thoroughly, most of these bacteria will be killed. However, if raw food comes into contact with other food, which has already been cooked, or is ready to eat, the bacteria can transfer to this food and cause food poisoning. This is called cross-contamination. For this reason, it is very important to keep raw food totally separate from cooked and ready-to-eat food during preparation and storage. As a basic rule you should store raw food at the bottom of the refrigerator so that any drips do not contaminate cooked or ready-to-eat foods.

Preparing food

Separate utensils, chopping boards and bowls should be used in the preparation of raw food and ready-to-eat or cooked food. If it is not possible to use separate equipment, the equipment must be thoroughly washed in hot water and detergent and sanitised in between use. Thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables in clean water before use, to remove soil, bacteria, insects and chemical residues.

Handling food

Everyone has bacteria on their bodies, whether they are healthy or ill. Even healthy people can spread bacteria on to food through touching it with their hands. If food must be touched by hand, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly. Raw food that is to be cooked can be safely handled with bare hands, but for cooked or ready-to-eat food, utensils such as tongs, spoons and spatulas should be used. Keep any cuts on your hands covered with a clean waterproof plaster.

 

Cooking/heating food

Bacteria multiply rapidly in the temperature range of 5-63°C. For this reason, this temperature range is known as the danger zone. It is very important that food spends the shortest possible time in this temperature range.

Make sure all foods, particularly those of animal origin, are cooked thoroughly. This will kill most bacteria. Food should be cooked from a thawed state, to ensure that it is cooked through. Where it must be cooked from a frozen state, take extra care to make sure that the food is cooked right through, and that its internal temperature reaches at least 75°C.

Cooling food

Food just taken out of the oven should spend no longer than one hour at room temperature. This food should then be placed in the refrigerator, to make sure that the temperature drops to below 5°C as fast as possible. Large portions of food cool faster when put into shallow trays no deeper than 10cm, or divided into smaller portions.

Freezing and thawing food

While frozen food is thawing, bacteria in it start multiplying. If the food is refrozen the bacteria do not die, and are still there when the food is thawed again. When you re-thaw the food, it is likely to have higher levels of bacteria. For this reason, you should never refreeze thawed food. When thawing food, place it in the bottom part of the refrigerator to ensure that it remains cold throughout the thawing process and does not contaminate other food with drips.

Microwave ovens can be used to thaw food, provided the food is cooked immediately afterwards.

Food that is to be frozen should be packaged into small portions to allow it to freeze and thaw in the shortest possible time.


<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
 
[ Back ]