Food Safety: The 4Cs

Clean hands

Clean hands are hands that are washed with soap and dried with a clean towel. It’s important to always wash your hands before handling food, but just as important to wash them after:

• handling raw meat and poultry
• going to the toilet
• changing nappies
• handling pets
• gardening.

Wash knives and utensils, and scrub chopping boards between preparation of raw and cooked foods. Keep your fridge clean.

Cook food

• Defrost frozen foods thoroughly before cooking.
• Never leave hot food to cool for more than two hours before putting it in the fridge. Keep foods covered.
• Reheat leftovers until steaming hot throughout and do not reheat more than once.
• Cook minced meat and sausages thoroughly (meat should not be pink) and cook poultry until juices run clear.
• Pre-cook minced meat, sausages and poultry before barbecuing.
• Do not put cooked meat back on the same plate that held raw meat.

Cover food

• Cover all foods before storing.
• Keep raw meat and poultry covered and away from ready to eat food, fruit and vegetables.
• Cover food when outdoors to prevent insects and bugs getting into it.
• Keep raw meat and poultry in the bottom of the fridge to ensure juices don't drip onto other foods.
• The only time your food should be uncovered is when you’re eating it!

Chill

• Ensure your fridge is between 2 and 4 degrees centigrade.
• Keep all perishable foods in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
• When picnicking, keep frozen food cool by using a frozen chilly pad.
• Marinate food in the fridge, not on the bench.
• Chilly bins is a good way of keeping chilled and frozen products cold when taking them home from the supermarket.
• Defrost frozen foods in the fridge.
• Bacteria that cause foodborne illness thrive at room temperature - keep food very cold or very hot.