Food poisoning is pretty grim.
And with summer in full swing – and the good old barby being wheeled out – it’s important to take extra care with your food.
Cases of food poisoning traditionally increase during the summer – and the warmer the weather gets, the more people tend to get sick 🙁
So to help you stay safe, here are four simple tips based on advice from the Food Standards Agency and the NHS.
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1. Cook the heck out of it
Cook your food thoroughly – particularly your meat. Make sure it’s piping hot and thoroughly cooked all the way through.
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Any pink in the meat or in the juices could harbour germs – and could be a one-way ticket to food-poisoning misery. Yuck.
Basically, proper cooking kills the bugs.
2. Keep raw and cooked stuff separate (they don’t get along)
A few months ago Loose Women presenter Katie Price got some stick after posting a picture of her fridge contents on Instagram.
It appeared to show uncooked meat stored next to cheese…prompting lots of advice from worried followers.
Even if you don’t post pics of your fridge on Instagram (what…you don’t do that?!), it’s important to keep uncooked food away from ready-to-eat stuff (like dairy) to prevent cross-contamination.
It’s a good idea to keep raw meat covered and at the bottom of your fridge.
And don’t use the same chopping board or knife for raw and ready-to-eat stuff.
3. Store it at the right temperature (er…stay cool?)
Food that needs to be kept chilled should be kept in the fridge.
It’s worth checking your fridge is running at the right temperature too (below 5C).
If you’re going on a picnic or taking a packed lunch somewhere, keep it in the fridge until the last minute and use a cool-bag when you take it with you.
4. Wash your hands (and be a mean, clean, food-handling machine)
Last but not least, always keep your hands clean…and wash them thoroughly both before and after you handle food.
If you’re preparing uncooked meat, give your hands a real good wash before you touch anything else…or you might spread germs.
Cllr Hugh Jones, Wrexham Council’s lead member for public protection, said: “Food poisoning is a miserable experience and so easily avoided.
“By following a few simple steps in the kitchen, you can drastically reduce the risk of food poisoning this summer.”
For more food safety advice, visit the NHS website.
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