Why HPA North West supports national food safety week

Food poisoning warning

Over one million cases of food poisoning are reported in the UK every year at a cost to the taxpayer of £1.5 billion. More than 20,000 of these cases are sufficiently ill to require treatment in hospital and approximately 500 people die.

These illnesses cause much suffering and distress, yet many could be avoided by following the simple but essential rules for food storage, preparation and cooking; by thorough hand-washing at the right times and by heeding the “use by” advice on food packaging.

This advice is particularly important in the summer months when the Health Protection Agency traditionally sees significant increases in vomiting and diarrhoea caused by germs such as salmonella and campylobacter.

Dr. Ken Lamden, the HPA’s regional lead for gastrointestinal diseases, said: “Our advice is to protect yourself by cooking food properly and washing your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat and poultry and before eating. It’s essential to keep raw and cooked foods separate to avoid cross-contamination and it’s important to let food cool before freezing it.”

The theme of this year’s national food safety week is “food on a budget,” with a focus on the safe use of leftovers and understanding and adhering to “use by” dates.
Dr. Lamden added: “In these days of tight budgets, it can be tempting to keep leftovers for too long, but they should always be eaten within two days.”

The Food Standards Agency advice is:
• If you are going to store leftovers in the fridge, cool them as quickly as possible (ideally with 90 minutes), cover them up and eat them within two days.
• If you are going to freeze leftovers, cool them before putting them in the freezer. Food can be stored for a considerable time in the freezer, but the quality will deteriorate so it’s best to eat it within three months.
• Defrost leftovers properly before reheating. Defrost them in the fridge overnight, or in the microwave if you intend to cook them straightaway.
• Eat leftovers within 24 hours of defrosting and do not refreeze. The only exception is if you are defrosting raw food, such as meat or poultry, which can be refrozen after it’s cooked.
• Cook leftovers until steaming hot throughout.
• Do not reheat leftovers more than once.

People planning picnics or barbecues shouldn’t take food out of the fridge until the last minute and should use a cool bag to keep it chilled until it’s ready to eat.

The basic rules for safe food storage, preparation and cooking are:
• Do not keep food in the fridge for too long and always heed the use-by guidance
• Check fridges regularly and maintain them at temperatures lower than 5C
• Home freezers should be no warmer than -18C
• Store cooked and raw meat products separately in the fridge with cooked meats on a higher shelf than uncooked meats
• Ensure that meat and poultry are thoroughly defrosted before cooking
• Consume food within four hours of its removal from chilled storage
• Keep raw meat and poultry well away from produce that will not require cooking, such as bread and salad vegetables.
• Use separate knives and chopping boards for preparing raw and cooked products.
• Wash hands thoroughly before and after handling food and before eating. If at the beach or in the countryside, use hand wipes.
• Do not butter or eat bread or pick at salads after handling raw meat, unless you have thoroughly washed your hands in between.
• Ensure that raw meat and poultry, including bacon and sausages are properly cooked.
• If planning an al fresco meal, do not attempt to cook roasts or larger joints of meat on a barbecue because they will not cook thoroughly. It is much better to prepare larger products in an oven. Barbecues are for small portions only.