Food safety is vitally important to maintaining good health. Keeping food safe can be quick and easy and doesn’t have to be expensive. Follow these steps to keep your food safe.
Food safety is vitally important to maintaining good health. Keeping food safe can be quick and easy and doesn’t have to be expensive. Follow these four tips to maintain good food health:
- Keep it cold
- keep the fridge below 5oC
- put any food that needs to be kept cold in the fridge straight away
- don't eat food that’s meant to be in the fridge if it’s been left out for 2 hours or more
- defrost and marinate foods in the fridge, especially meats
- shop with a cooler bag, picnic with an esky
- Keep it clean
- wash and dry hands thoroughly before starting to prepare or eat any food, even a snack
- keep benches, kitchen equipment and tableware clean and dry
- don't let raw meat juices drip onto other foods
- separate raw and cooked food and use different cutting boards and knives for both
- avoid making food for others if sick with something like diarrhoea
- Keep it hot
- cook foods to at least 60oC, hotter for specific foods
- reheat foods to at least 60oC, until they're steaming hot
- make sure there's no pink left in cooked meats such as mince or sausages
- look for clear juices before serving chicken
- heat to boiling all marinades containing raw meat juices before serving
- Check the label
- don’t eat food past a 'use-by' date
- note a 'best before' date
- follow storage and cooking instructions
- be allergy aware
- ask for information about unpackaged foods
Information sourced from NSW Food Authority.
