How To Prepare And Cook Food Safely

Find out how to prepare, cook and store food correctly to minimise the risk of food poisoning, including E. coli. Our hands are one of the main ways that germs are spread. Harmful bacteria can be spread very easily from people's hands to food, work surfaces and equipment. It's always important to wash them thoroughly with soap and warm water before handling food, and especially after touching raw food, the bin, pets, and going to the toilet.

Find out how to wash your hands correctly. Raw meat, including poultry, can contain harmful bacteria that can spread easily to anything it touches, including food, worktops, tables, chopping boards, and knives. Take particular care to keep raw food separate from ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit. These foods won't be cooked before you eat them, so any germs that get on to them won't be killed.

Find out why you should never wash raw chicken. Read more about storing leftovers safely. Cooking food at the right temperature will ensure any harmful bacteria are killed. Check that food's steaming hot throughout before you eat it. When cooking burgers, sausages, chicken, and pork, cut into the middle to check that the meat's no longer pink, the juices run clear and it's steaming hot throughout.

When cooking a whole chicken or bird, pierce the thickest part of the leg (between the drumstick and the thigh) to check there's no pink meat and the juices are no longer pink or red. Pork joints and rolled joints shouldn't be eaten pink or rare. To check when these types of joint are ready to eat, put a skewer into the centre of the meat and check there's no pink meat and the juices run clear.

The safest option is to fully cook food in your oven and then put the cooked food on the barbecue for a short time so the flavour can develop. This can be an easier option if you're cooking for a lot of people at the same time. Cooking with disposable barbecues can take longer. Meat, such as steaks and joints of beef or lamb, can be served rare (not cooked in the middle) as long as the outside has been properly cooked.

This will kill any bacteria on the outside of the meat. Food made from any type of minced meat, such as pork sausages and beef burgers, must be cooked thoroughly all the way through. Acrylamide is a chemical that's created when many foods, particularly starchy foods like potatoes and bread, are cooked at high temperatures (over 120C), such as when baking, frying, grilling, toasting, and roasting. Boiling, steaming and microwave cooking are unlikely to create acrylamide.

There's evidence to show acrylamide has the potential to cause cancer. Go for gold - aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods like potatoes, root vegetables and bread. Check the pack - follow the cooking instructions carefully when frying or oven-heating packaged food products like chips, roast potatoes and parsnips.

Don't keep raw potatoes in the fridge - storing raw potatoes in the fridge can increase overall acrylamide levels if they're then cooked at high temperatures, such as roasting or frying. Eat a varied and balanced diet - while we can't completely avoid risks like acrylamide in food, eating a healthy, balanced diet will help reduce your risk of cancer. For more information, read Starchy foods and carbohydrates. Wash fruit and vegetables under cold running water before you eat them. This helps remove visible dirt and germs that may be on the surface. Peeling or cooking fruit and vegetables can also remove these germs.



This is the time of year that we all take a moment to reflect on the things for which we are thankful. I'm thankful that I have a job that pays me to make ridiculous things. I'm also thankful that a blog post, whole and entire, found its way into my mailbox last month.