Esky’s Twelve Food Safety Tips of Christmas
Seasons greeting to all! We’re kicking off our countdown to this festive period with a look at our top Food Safety tips to help keep your Christmas merry, and keep you safe over this festive period.
1. Always wash your hands
Wash your hands thoroughly, using soap and hot water, before handling food. You should also wash your hand after handling raw foods (including meat, fish, eggs and vegetables), after touching bins, going to the toilet, blowing your nose, or touching pets.
2. Wash worktops
Wash worktops before and after preparing food, particularly, especially after they've been touched by raw meat.
3. Wash dishcloths and tea towels
Keep dishcloths and tea towels clean and let them dry before you use them again. Dirty and damp cloths are the perfect breeding grounds for bacteria.
4. Washing Fruit and Veg
Wash fruit and vegetables under cold running water before you eat them. This helps to remove visible dirt and germs that may be on the surface. Find out more about washing fruit and veg at our dedicated article here.
5. Cooking
Cooking food at the correct temperature will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. Check that food is piping hot throughout before you eat it. Take a look at our free Safe Cooking Temperatures chart here.
6. Cleaning up
Wash all worktops and chopping boards before and after cooking, they are often the main source of cross-contamination.
7. Fridge storage
When preparing food, make sure it is kept out of the fridge for the shortest time possible.
8. Storing meat
Raw meat and poultry should be stored in clean sealable containers at the bottom of the fridge. This prevents them from dripping onto other food.
9. Freezing and defrosting
Only freeze meat/fish before their use-by date
10,11,12 Love leftovers
If you have cooked food that you're not going to eat straight away, cool it as quickly as possible and store it in the fridge or freezer.
Use leftovers within two days and reheat till steaming hot.
Do not reheat leftovers more than once.
Lastly, everyone at Esky would like to wish you a happy and safe Christmas!
