These days we must all be concerned with the safety and integrity of every morsel of food that we eat, and that is not an easy task. This involves having to be mindful in following food safety tips on how you shop, what you eat while dining in restaurants and mobile food units, what to eat at BBQ’s and get-togethers where food may be sitting out for hours, and what you should avoid serving to young children. Being more conscious of what you are eating will help you avoid any potential food related hazards and risks. Practicing and not only talking about some good, basic habits will help with much of the problem.
There is an estimated 5.4 million cases of food poisoning each year in Australia, and surprisingly enough, most of these cases are linked to poor food handling practices in the home.
Typical symptoms of food borne illness are stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, which often start a few days after consuming contaminated food or drink. Most of us have experienced some or all of these symptoms at some point in our lives, and thankfully they are not usually long-lasting in healthy people—a few hours or a few days and then go away without treatment. But, it’s more than just a minor inconvenience…some of these bacteria can make you very ill and others have the capacity to be more life-threatening to those who are most at risk, such as:
- older adults
- infants and young children
- pregnant women
- people with compromised immune systems
When cooking at home for young children, remember that the following foods unsuitable:
- Uncooked or fermented meats such as salami
- Anything unpasteurized like milk , apple juice, honey or cheese
- Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, fish or shellfish
- Raw sprouts like alfalfa, or radish
Many of us have gone back to eating healthier and more sustainable foods, but we have also become more adventurous with what we are eating. Eating more raw meat and fish is on the rise as chefs become more creative and inventive with their offerings. Food contamination is not just limited to those types of food that you would probably consider as ‘high risk’, such as raw meat and fish. Raw fruit and vegetables can also be dangerous. Many new fruits and vegetables hitting the market need to be tracked as they are imported from neighboring countries and also shared from other far reaching states.
Foods including many of these vegetables are riskier because if they are contaminated it is only a certain level of heat (above 60°C) that will kill the bacteria. Here are a few things to remember:
- Follow the basic food safety tips carefully and always remember to CLEAN, CHILL, COOK & SEPARATE.
- Make sure that your hands, utensils, cutting boards, countertops are all clean. Rinse all fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water.
- Keep all perishable items refrigerated until ready to use them. The number of food bugs significantly increases at temperatures between 5°C and 60°C, a temperature danger zone. Remember to defrost poultry and rolled or stuffed meats completely in the refrigerator before cooking and refrigerate leftovers promptly or within 2 hours.
- Cook to boiling or discard leftover marinades that have come in contact with raw meat. Always make sure to cook chicken and other poultry, minced or boned meat, hamburger, stuffed meat and sausages right through until all the juices run clear. When reheating leftovers, make sure they are steaming hot before eating them.
- Separate cooked and raw meat and use dedicated cutting boards for raw protein and vegetables. Keep raw meat and poultry in the bottom of the fridge or in a sealed container so that it does not come in contact with other food. Never put cooked meat onto the same plate with raw meat, and if you use the same plate, make sure it is washed and dried thoroughly. This is a major mistake commonly made when barbecuing.
- If you are cooking something new, always follow cooking instructions on the packet label or the recipe carefully. Also ask questions concerning storage and preparation from sellers and surf the web.
Food that can contain dangerous bacteria or viruses may not look, smell or taste any different from food that is safe. The food poisoning bacteria are either present in the food to begin with or are transferred to the food during cooking, preparing or serving.
When you are deciding to eat in a restaurant, or to take food away, always ask yourself :
- Is the shop or restaurant generally clean?
- Is the staff well presented?
- Is the staff using tongs and gloves?
- Is the staff using clean cloths to wipe down surfaces?
- Are raw and cooked foods well separated?
- Are the toilets clean?
Remember that a sign of dirty conditions in the public areas is usually a good clue that things are worse in the kitchen where no one can see…
When eating in a restaurant or considering a take away remember:
- Hot food should be served steaming hot. Food to be eaten hot is stored in a hot food display bain marie or over burners. Don’t eat lukewarm food.
- Cold food should be displayed on ice or in a fridge and should feel cold when you eat it.
- Pre-made sandwiches and rolls that contain perishable ingredients, such as meat and cheese, should be stored in a fridge or kept at cooler room temperature for only a few hours.
- Don’t buy ‘tired-looking’ food that looks like it has been sitting at room temperature for a long time.
- Minced meat, hamburgers, rolled or stuffed roasts, and chicken must be cooked right through – there should be no pink meat.
- Steak, chops and whole roasts should be cooked to your preference.
- Cold food is displayed on ice or in special refrigerated cabinets.
- Each dish should have its own serving utensils.
- Make sure that fresh food is replenished regularly.
- Foods on display must be covered by some type of guard or cover.
- Plates and cutlery should be clean and dry.
During the summer and busy holiday times throughout the year, the average home kitchen is really not designed to cook for large numbers of people. Work surfaces stoves and fridges are intending to cater for normal cooking needs for a family not for preparing large amounts of food. These festive occasions also require people to prepare food well ahead of the event-that’s fine if the items are non perishable, but others must be carefully prepared and either chilled or frozen. If it’s a potluck function where guests often bring a prepared dish, by the time it is consumed, this dish may have been out of the fridge for several hours…enough time for any bacteria in it to multiply.
Domestic fridges are not very large and an overcrowded fridge or freezer does not allow the cold air to circulate freely around the food so sometimes foods can be inadequately frozen or chilled. When it contains a big load of food as is the case during a special function, the fridge has to work overtime to cope. If the weather is hot, the temperature inside will rise. A fridge thermometer inside the fridge is critical to make sure that the fridge is operating at the correct temperature (around 4-5 °C). At these temperatures, bacteria causing food borne illnesses will multiply very slowly and the food will remain safe for 2 or 3 days. Check your fridge temperatures first thing in the morning after the food has had a chance to cool and adjust the controls to lower the temperature if necessary.
Keeping these few tips in mind will help mitigate your chances of consuming a compromised food item, or worse…sharing it with someone else.
Think ST Solutions 
offers practical solutions to both management and staff in hospitals, aged care facilities, restaurants, hotels and the food industry. We specialise in the development of useful tools to assist businesses in the areas of food safety, strategic planning, business management, risk and compliance training and business consultancy solutions.