KEEP COLD AND COOK WELL: Make sure full is all your tummy gets this festive season.
THE last thing you want is for your Christmas festivities to end in a bout of gastro but as temperatures at this time of the year often soar into the high 30s, even more care than normal needs to be taken with food preparation and storage. After all you don't want to give your family and friends an unwanted present.
Here are some food safety tips to help ensure your Christmas is a healthy one:
- Don't rinse or wash poultry - it can splash tiny droplets of contaminated water around your kitchen benches and onto other food, utensils and dishes
- Ensure utensils used for raw meat - tongs, chopping boards, knives etc. are washed before being used for ready-to-eat food
- Take a cooler bag with ice bricks with you to the shops to carry perishables, take them straight home and refrigerate immediately
- If you have bought more food than normal, make sure cold air in your fridge can still circulate freely
- Check the temperature of your fridge to ensure it's in the safety zone of 0 to 4 degrees Celcius and try not to open it too often - if you are going to keep going to the fridge to get out cold drinks it might be better to invest in a bar fridge or have an esky or big bucket full of ice to keep the drinks cold at parties
- Store food such as meat, dairy and perishables in the fridge
- Prepare and store raw meats separately from cooked meat and ready-to-eat foods
- Cover food to prevent contamination by insects and dust
- Ensure leftovers are put back in the fridge as soon as possible and are not out for longer than two hours
- Cook all meats thoroughly and take extra care with poultry - remember for chicken the juices should always run clear
- Wash and dry hands before handling food and immediately after handling meat, poultry and fish
- Allow cooked food to cool down before refrigerating (but no longer than two hours)
- Don't keep leftovers for longer than three days - less depending on the type of food and preparation
- Reheated food should be steaming hot before you eat it
- Wash fruit and vegetables before use
- Have an esky of ice or frozen bricks to keep food cool at picnics
