As someone who loves food, I am sure you would agree that the worst thing that can happen to you is getting yourself a dose of FOOD POISONING!
FOOD POISONING! It sounds very dramatic and somewhat lethal when you say it out loud, but we are not talking Agatha Christie here, no one will die at dinner! at least we hope not, as the food poisoning I am talking about is completely unintentional and accidental 90% of the time.
I'm not going to go into the inns and outs of food hygiene in catering establishments, but I will give you one piece of advice....the first time you go for a meal in a place you haven't been before, visit the toilets, then take a good look at the floor in the eating area and the table tops......if these areas have a high standard of cleanliness then you can bet your bottom dollar the kitchen will have high standards too...checking out the loos gives a good indication whether there is lax or efficient management in the cleaning department overall.
But putting large professional establishments aside, lets get on to what concerns us now.
Food poisoning of FP to save me typing such long words...is more likely to be contracted in the home....it's a fact, and it's usually caused by a simple lack of knowledge on how to treat and store our food safely and correctly.
Getting FP may result in a mild case of the 'runs' (diarrhoea) if you're lucky, or, at worst you could find yourself doubled over in excruciating agony with swift evacuations from both ends for about 24 hours, and after a couple of days of this you may be on your way to the emergency room due to dehydration...yes hospitalisation happens in extreme cases! It all depends on what you have eaten, how much you ate of it, and how efficiently your body is able to deal with the bugs at the time. Unfortunately there are some instances where starving yourself for 24 hours will never work and a hospital stay is the only answer and when you reach that stage you are dicing with death.
So how can you avoid this predicament...there are some very basic rules that will drastically cut your chances of getting sick or of sickening anyone else you are feeding.
Shopping......
Firstly ask yourself...is where I buy my food clean? do they display a hygiene certificate? does the place look and smell clean? do the staff look neat and clean?
Don't dilly dally when shopping...if you have bought food that is chilled or frozen then it stands to reason that it needs to stay chilled or frozen! You should get it home as quickly as possible and get it in the fridge or freezer...chilling or freezing food will not kill any germs or bacteria but it can halt their growth until such times as the food is cooked, and if cooked correctly, any bugs will be killed off! Make use of cooler bags or boxes to help keep food cold or as close to frozen as possible if you have a long journey home or other errands to run.
Storing....
Do you know how to work your refrigerator or freezer properly? If not, then get the manual out and digest it! A good tip though is....keep your fridge at number 3 or 4 on the dial for optimum efficiency and coolness... if you are lucky enough to have an up to the minute hi-tech fridge which tells you the exact temperature and probably sends the info to your phone, then make sure the temperature is somewhere between 1oC and a maximum of 5oC....as for your freezer, -18oC is ideal or even colder if you can.
When stocking your fridge, place any cooked or prepared foods (and by that I mean food that is ready to be eaten such as coleslaw or cooked meats) on the shelves above where you will store raw foods such as joints of raw meat or poultry....just in case there may be any drips from the raw items that could fall and contaminate that lovely trifle you made earlier!
If you are stuck for space and need to put both raw and cooked on the same shelf then you could store items in containers with lids or in suitable plastic bags.
WASH YOUR HANDS! WASH YOUR HANDS!.....MUST I REPEAT MYSELF?
The cardinal rule is....if you touch or prepare a raw or unclean food item...and that includes the outer unopened packaging of that item, you MUST WASH YOUR HANDS!It would shock you to discover how many bacteria are on the door handle of your fridge and the taps of your sink! My tip is to have a good deep bowl of hot soapy water on standby before you begin thereby avoiding having to touch the taps or soap dispenser etc. with dirty hands. You can add a little squirt of bleach to the water too to aid cleaning.
Preparation.......
Prepare raw and cooked foods separately and wash any item of equipment you have used such as a knife, chopping board or surfaces you may have placed that food on, before you handle anything else or even think of preparing anything else....so say you want to make a chicken casserole and then an apple pie...it is best to prepare all your vegetables first and then dice your raw chicken after.... then scrub! scrub! scrub! that chopping board with hot soapy water and don't forget your hands too before you think about making pastry!
Cooking.........
Make sure your food is cooked correctly. Follow cooking times for meat and poultry and grab yourself one of those very handy meat thermometers that will tell you when your food is at the correct temperature at the centre.
Leftovers or foods for re-heating......
The main rule for leftovers etc. is......cool the food as quickly as possible soon after it has been made, try separating it into smaller amounts to aid the cooling, do not be tempted to put it into the fridge...hot food in your fridge just raises the internal temperature of your fridge and could cause the growth of bacteria on other foods and it just makes the fridge work harder!
Get your cooked food into the fridge or freezer within 2 hours of cooking it and of course, chill or freeze in suitable containers. It is a good idea to have some sticky labels or write on the container the date you put it in there and what the item is.
Serving.......
You can keep cooked foods warm for a certain length of time, but the longer you keep them warm the more they deteriorate in flavour and moisture content, so unless you are running a carvery/buffet where you have specialist equipment to maintain optimum temperatures, just don't bother. Let the food be cool correctly, chill and re-heat later and remember, you should only re-heat cooked food once!
Cleaning up......
Once your meal has been eaten, do get into the habit of cleaning up afterwards.
Don't leave your sink piled with dishes covered with food debris or have food or other bits and pieces lying around on the work surfaces, you are just creating the perfect breeding ground for germs and bacteria. If you have to leave the dishes until later, at least rinse any food from them and stack them neatly.
Wash your dishes in lots of hot soapy water...and really the water should be hot enough that it requires you to wear rubber gloves unless you have asbestos hands like a chef!, If you are blessed with a dishwasher then so much the better....you can put anything in the dishwasher really except the kitchen sink!
If you must wash by hand...personally I prefer this method as I know for sure everything is scrubbed clean, then keep your dirty items to one side of the sink and have the other side of your sink as the clean area. Use a draining rack and when all the dishes have been washed you can boil the kettle and pour boiling water over everything to help sterilise, just watch you don't get splashed and burned! Allow the dishes to air dry as much as you can or else use a clean drying cloth every time you dry.
If you must use a dish cloth or sponge scourer to wash your work surfaces, then make sure you change it at least every other day, I like to soak my dish cloth in a little bleach and water every night just to be sure, but I find using a good quality kitchen towel can take the place of a dish cloth and they are disposable!
There are various surface cleaners on the market and they are all very well, but nothing beats a good old fashioned scrub!
You can find lots of further useful information on the SAFE FOOD website by clicking HERE!
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