Clean, cook, chill
Following the 3 Cs can help keep you safe from bugs in food and reduce the chances of food poisoning.
Clean
Good food hygiene starts with clean hands, but it’s also important to make sure your cooking area and tools are clean. Before preparing food, make sure that you wash all surfaces, chopping boards, and utensils with soap and water (and rinse them afterwards). You also want to use different sponges or cloths for the dishes, the bench, and the floor and change reuseable dish cloths or sponges regularly.
Here are a few other things you should look to do:
- Use paper towels to clean up messy spills like raw meat juices, then wipe with a cloth and hot water and detergent.
- Always cover stored food – even in the fridge or cupboard. You should also cover food when eating outside, to keep out unwanted insects and bugs.
- Use plastic film or foil to cover foods, or put into containers with tight-sealing lids.
- Keep raw meat and chicken away from ready-to-eat food, fruit and vegetables. Store at the bottom of the fridge to prevent any juices – which can contain harmful bacteria – from dripping onto other foods
Cook
When cooking meat, make sure that it is cooked through to kill harmful bacteria. You can use a meat thermometer to check temperatures at the middle of the thickest part (internal temperature should be 75°C).
You should also defrost frozen foods thoroughly, or they won't cook properly in the middle. Defrost food in your fridge overnight, or use the defrost setting on your microwave.
Make sure that you keep raw and cooked foods separate – use one set of utensils for raw meat and another set for cooked food. You should also put cooked items on a clean plate, not one that's been used for raw ingredients.
Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers within 2 hours. Cool hot food in small portions to speed cooling, then refrigerate in a covered container. Reheat leftovers until steaming hot (over 75 degrees Celsius) and do not reheat more than once.
Lastly, remember to use different knives when cutting meat and chopping your veggies or bread.
Chill
When given the moist, warm environment they like, food poisoning bacteria grow very quickly. Most harmful bacteria cannot grow at low refrigeration temperatures, so keep perishable foods cold (below 4ºC)and use as soon as possible.
You should also:
- Cool hot foods slightly before refrigerating them to avoid raising the temperature of other stored foods. If you have a large amount of food, such as rice or a casserole, spread it out on a flat tray and it will cool quicker. When it has stopped steaming, you can put it into a sealed or covered container and into the fridge.
- Never leave food at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If the room temperature is warm, you should refrigerate sooner as bacteria multiply more quickly.
- Keep your fridge clean, and wipe up any spills immediately. And don't overfill your fridge – this can mean some food isn't kept cool.
