Food Safety Week: useful tips

Some of you may have heard about the recent E.coli outbreak in Germany, which has been blamed on a mix of sprouted seeds used in salads, lentils, alfalfa seeds, fenugreek and adzuki beans. This news story coincides with Food Safety Week this week. Organised by the Food Standards Agency, Food Safety Week runs from 6 – 12 June.

Every year there are roughly 70,000 reported cases of food poisoning in England; last year there were 6,519 cases in London. In the Westminster borough there were 109 cases of food poisoning. 

Most cases of food poisoning occur during the summer, mainly from undercooked food at barbecues. Dr Brian McCloskey, director of the HPA in London, said: "Our goal for Food Safety Week is to give people the information they need to safely store, prepare, cook and enjoy food, whether in the home or outside at a barbecue, picnic or by the seaside - we don't want people making themselves, or their friends, ill."

Some useful tips that have been offered for cooking food at BBQs include: keeping raw meat and poultry well away from produce that will not require cooking, such as bread and salads; ensure that all meat and poultry is cooked thoroughly; barbecues need to be lit long before use to ensure that the grill is hot enough; cook larger joints of meat in the oven because they will not cook thoroughly enough on a BBQ, only smaller portions of food should be cooked on a BBQ; and most of all, wash your hands before preparing/cooking food and after.