food safety in summer
With summer approaching it is the time for barbeques and picnics outdoors. This can lead to food not being stored correctly and increases the risk of illness from foodborne bugs. Here are some simple tips to help keep your family and friends safe this summer.
· Wash your hands properly before touching food
· Precook chicken, meat patties and sausages before cooking on a barbeque
· Have separate utensils to handle raw and cooked meat
· Don’t use the same plate to carry raw and cooked food.
· Prepare food as close as possible to eating time
· Don’t leave food out for too long
· Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible, and when you reheat, make sure they are steaming all the way through.
the 4Cs of food safety are:
Clean
• Always wash your hands before handling any food.
• Wash knives and utensils and scrub chopping boards between preparing raw and cooked food.
Cook
• Defrost frozen foods thoroughly in the fridge or microwave before cooking.
• Cook food properly.
Cover
• Keep food covered until you’re ready to cook or eat it.
• Keep raw meat and poultry covered in the bottom of the fridge and away from ready-to-eat food.
• Marinate food in the fridge, not on the bench top.
Chill
• Clean out the fridge so there’s plenty of room for the air to circulate and ensure it is set between 2 and 4°C.
• It is usually safe to make up food ahead of time, such as the night before, providing you store it in the fridge overnight.
• Keep meats, salads (especially pasta or rice salads), seafood and ready-to-eat foods such as dips and desserts in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.
• Don’t let leftovers sit too long . As soon as steam stops rising, refrigerate or freeze them in leak-proof containers. Throw out any perishable items left out for more than two hours.
For more information
visit
New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA): www.nzfsa.govt.nz
The New Zealand Foodsafe Partnership: www.foodsafe.org.nz