Food poisoning affects millions of Australians every year, and much of it starts at home. These simple habits will keep your family safe.
1. Clean everything thoroughly
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food, and after touching raw meat, eggs or rubbish.
- Keep all work areas and equipment clean so bacteria can’t survive and grow.
- Pay special attention to knives, slicers and chopping boards. Wash them in hot, soapy water, then sanitise them, either in a dishwasher on a hot cycle or with a food-safe sanitiser.
2. Avoid cross-contamination
- Dangerous bacteria can transfer from raw food to cooked or ready-to-eat food when they come into contact.
- Wash and sanitise equipment after every task involving raw food, or use separate boards for raw meat and for ready-to-eat foods.
- Store raw meat, poultry and seafood in sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, below cooked and ready-to-eat foods.
3. Keep cold food cold and cool food quickly
- Keep your fridge at 5°C or below.
- Don’t leave cooked food sitting out. Once it stops steaming, put it in the fridge, ideally within an hour.
- If you’re cooking in bulk, divide food into smaller portions and spread it out in shallow containers so it cools faster.
4. Cook food thoroughly
- Defrost frozen food completely in the fridge or microwave before cooking, unless the instructions say to cook from frozen.
- Stir microwaved food during cooking so it’s hot all the way through.
- Cook poultry, mince, sausages, rolled meats and egg dishes until they reach 75°C in the centre; a meat thermometer is a great investment.
- Reheat leftovers until they’re steaming hot all the way through (75°C), and only reheat them once.
