Food Safety

Most of food safety is about common sense and keeping things clean! Your hands for example are the biggest culprit for spreading germs in the kitchen so it is important to regularly wash your hands with warm soapy water and then dry them properly as wet hands spread bacteria. You should wash your hands each time you:

Food safety also relies on kitchen work surfaces, utensils and chopping boards being clean. Dish cloths and tea towels should be changed often as although things like these may look clean they are a breeding ground for bacteria.
Always store raw meat or fish away from cooked or ready to eat food, as any bacteria won’t be killed by cooking.  It is unnecessary to wash raw meat or fish before you cook it as the heat from cooking will kill the bacteria. You actually risk spreading bacteria doing this because the chances are you will drip or splash bacteria onto your worktops.

Freezing slows down food deterioration because when the water turns to ice it is no longer available for bacterial growth. If you leave frozen food defrosting at room temperature for a long time though bacteria is able to grow. Therefore it is important to thoroughly cook anythin that has been frozen until it is steaming hot all the way through as this ensures that all the bacteria are all killed.

Always pay attention to food safety labels, they will tell you how best to store the food and how long to cook it for. Some labels will tell you how quickly you need to consume something once it is opened, for example ‘eat within 5 days of opening’. In the UK you will also see use by, best before and display until dates on food safety labels.  Most display a best before date, the food is safe to eat after this date (within reasonable limits) but the quality may be reduced. A use by date must be used instead of a best before date on perishable items such as milk. The use by indicates the date after which from a microbiological food safety point of view, the food could cause a danger to human health. You may also see sell by or display until dates; these are not required by law and do not indicate food safety but are more an instruction to shop staff to aid with stock control.
 

Visit Domains.co.uk to find out more about Foodsafety.co.uk