Food Safety

Every year in Australia, there are approximately 4.7 million cases of food poisoning that result in 47,900 hospitalisations, 38 deaths and a cost to the economy of $2.1 billion.

Most of these cases are caused by incorrect food handling and storage at home. By following some basic food safety steps, you can reduce the likelihood of food poisoning in your home.

Food poisoning happens when food that has been contaminated with bacteria is eaten.

Bacteria that cause food poisoning cannot move on their own – they are spread from one place to another by incorrect food handling practices or by contact with pets, flies or other pests.

Stopping the spread of bacteria:

• Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water:
  • before handling food, especially cooked food
  • after going to the toilet
  • between handling raw and cooked foods.
• After washing, dry your hands thoroughly with paper towel or a clean towel.
• Avoid using bare hands to touch food. Use tongs, forks and spoons whenever possible.
• Always clean and sanitise work surfaces and utensils with a clean dishcloth. Sanitisers kill bacteria, while detergents only remove dirt and grease.  
• Wash and sanitise your dish cloth regularly.
• Replace dish cloths on a regular basis, ideally every day, and especially if frayed or torn.
• Dirty tea towels can also spread bacteria, so it is important to wash/change them regularly.
• Wash fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw.
• Use safe, treated water when preparing food and cleaning.
• Use separate cutting boards and knives for each type of food, for example raw meat, fish, vegetables and cooked foods.
• Protect food preparation areas and food from pests, insects and pets.

How to wash your hands correctly

Warm, soapy water is the best option for washing your hands when they are visibly dirty. Follow these simple tips to ensure good hand hygiene.

To wash your hands:

1. Wet hands with running water (preferably warm).
2. Apply soap or liquid soap — enough to cover all of your hands. Normal soap is just as good as antibacterial soap.
3. Rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds.
4. Make sure you cover all surfaces, including the backs of your hands and in between your fingers.
5. Rinse hands, making sure you remove all soap, and turn off the tap using the towel or paper towel.
6. Dry your hands thoroughly with a paper towel, a clean hand towel or an air dryer if you are in a public toilet.

Can I use waterless hand sanitiser?

An alcohol-based hand rub (hand sanitiser) is a good way to clean your hands if you don't have access to soap and water. Hand sanitiser is only effective if your hands have no visible dirt on them.

To use hand sanitiser:

1. Put about half a teaspoon of the product in the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, covering all the surfaces of your hand, including between your fingers.
2. Keep rubbing until your hands are dry (about 20 to 30 seconds).

Remember, whenever you are preparing food, you should always use hygienic practices.

Tips on safe food handling in the home, including the preparation of a dish using a raw egg sauce, are available in the video clip

Food Safety Fundamentals with Adam Liaw

Thawing your food safely

• Thaw meat and other foods in the bottom of the fridge whenever possible.

• If you need to thaw food immediately, this is best done in the microwave or, as a last resort, under cool running water (with the food wrapped or packaged).

• You should not leave frozen food to thaw on a bench at room temperature. This will allow the outside of the food to warm above 5ºC which will enable food poisoning bacteria to grow.

• Make sure food is defrosted all the way through before cooking to ensure it reaches hot enough temperatures through to the centre.

What temperature should I cook my food to?

• Proper cooking kills almost all harmful microorganisms.

• Use a clean food thermometer to check that foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature.

• In general, cooking food to 70°C in the centre will help ensure it is safe to eat.

• Food Standards Australia New Zealand recommends cooking the following foods to at least 75°C in the centre:

• all poultry (whole cuts, roast or mince) 
• all meat that has been minced or rolled (beef, lamb, kangaroo or pork sausages, hamburgers, mince, or rolled roasts) 
• liver and other offal.

Food Safety Information Council’s webpage

Safe Cooking Temperatures

Cooling your food safely

• Cool and cover leftovers and put them in a fridge or freezer within 2 hours (see the 2-hour/4-hour rule below).  

• Splitting leftovers into smaller portions aids faster cooling, which helps prevent bacteria growth. It also helps with portion control and meal planning.

Reheating leftovers safely

• Always reheat leftovers to steaming hot (at least 60˚C). Reheating leftovers kills harmful bacteria that may have grown since it was cooked.

• Stir microwaved food while heating to ensure it is hot all the way through.

• Never reheat rice and pasta more than once and make sure it is steaming hot.

• Take extra care with takeaway rice. It should be eaten soon after purchasing as some businesses may pre-cook rice and re-heat it before it is served.

The 2-hour/4-hour rule

Temperature control is very important to prevent harmful bacteria from growing in certain types of food. Food poisoning bacteria grow best between temperatures of 5°C and 60°C – also known as the ‘temperature danger zone’.

To minimise your risk of food poisoning at home, follow the 2-hour/4-hour rule.

If your leftover food has been out of the fridge for:

• less than 2 hours – use it now, or put it back in the fridge for later
• between 2 and 4 hours – use it now or throw it out, and
• after 4 hours, throw the food out.

The time between 5°C and 60°C is cumulative — that means you need to add up every time the food has been out of the fridge.

Taking care when storing your food makes it last longer. By following some simple steps, you can also reduce the risk of food poisoning in your home.

Storing your food safely        

• Keep food covered to protect it from dust, insects, sneezes, etc. Always use a clean cover – never re-use plastic or aluminium wrap.

• Keep potentially hazardous foods such as raw meat and seafood, eggs, ready-to-eat food (e.g. fruit and vegetables) and cooked meals separated in the fridge.

• Always wrap and store cooked foods above raw foods in the fridge.

• Keep potentially hazardous food hot (above 60 °C) or cold (below 5 °C). Check the temperature of your fridge regularly – in hot weather it may need adjusting to keep food cold.

• Arrange food in your fridge so cold air can easily circulate around it. Never overstock your fridge. Fridges work better and are cheaper to run if they are defrosted regularly.

• Pack chilled and frozen food into your fridge or freezer immediately

• Always store leftovers at 5˚C or less

• Throw away leftovers if they've been out of the fridge for more than 4 hours.

• Always check labels on food for date marking and specific storage conditions

• For opened canned food leftovers, follow the manufacturer’s directions for storage and use and take the same precautions as you would for fresh food.  

Understanding date marking on food labels

Date marking and storage instructions on food labels tell us how long a food will last before it becomes unsafe to eat, or its quality deteriorates.

The difference between best before and use-by dates is really important:

• ‘Use by date’ is about food safety
• ‘Best before date’ is about food quality

A ‘use by date’ tells the consumer how long food will stay safe. These dates are not just guesswork; they have been worked out by scientific testing.

When a food is past its ‘use by’ date, it should not be eaten even if it looks fine as you can’t see or smell the harmful bacteria that causes food poisoning.

Always check the ‘use by dates’ on marked down food. If you cannot read the date mark, then ask the retailer for the date. It is illegal for retailers to sell food past it’s ‘use by date’.

Always freeze food before it’s ‘use by date’ and use it immediately after thawing.

Common foods with ‘use by dates’ include meat, chicken and dairy products.  

When a food is eaten after it’s ‘best before date’, then it will still be safe if it is not damaged, deteriorated or perished, however it may have lost nutritional value and/or quality.

Common 'best before' foods include canned foods, cereals, biscuits, sauces, chocolate, sugar, flour and frozen foods.

‘Baked on’ or ‘Baked for’ dates are commonly used on bread if its shelf life is less than 7 days.

The harmful bacteria that cause food poisoning can grow quickly between 5c and 60c so it’s important to keep lunch boxes cool. Young children are more at risk from food poisoning because their bodies and natural immune systems are not fully developed.

To protect your children, you should follow some simple steps:

• Use insulated lunch boxes or cooler bags

• Pack a frozen drink bottle or freezer brick inside the lunch box or bag, next to foods that should be kept cold, for example cheeses, yoghurts, meats and salads

• If making lunches ahead of time, keep them in the fridge until leaving for school or freeze them in advance. Foods that freeze well include bread, cooked meat, cheese or Vegemite.

• Remind your children to keep packed lunches in their school bag and to keep their bag out of direct sunlight and away from heat, ideally in a cool, dark place such as a locker

Finally, remind your child to always wash their hands before eating food.

Do you use your smart phone, tablet or iPad when cooking? Do you wash your hands or device?

The average mobile device contains more bacteria than the average toilet seat. This is because we constantly touch our devices and hardly ever clean them.

Smart phones, tablets and iPads can be extremely useful in the kitchen when trying to follow a recipe. However, how many times do you touch the screen to check ingredients or start/stop a video without washing your hands afterwards?

Always wash your hands before and after cooking

• Clean hands are important to help stop cross-contamination between your mobile device and ingredients when cooking.
• Always wash your hands with warm water and soap, drying with a clean hand towel or paper towel before, in between and after handling ingredients. 

Clean worktop before and after cooking

• Placing your mobile device on an unclean kitchen worktop could spread harmful bacteria.
• Always clean kitchen worktops with hot soapy water / sanitiser before and after preparing food.

Clean your mobile device before and after cooking

• Before you start cooking, you should clean your mobile device to help reduce potential cross-contamination.
• Clean your mobile device after cooking if you have handled raw ingredients such as meat, poultry, or eggs.
• Using cleaning wipes containing at least 70% isopropyl alcohol is the best way to clean your device including the screen, back, sides and buttons. 

Have a designated spot for your mobile device while you cook

Use a stand that props up your device so that it can be easily seen while you are prepping or cooking.Use a stand that props up your device so that it can be easily seen while you are prepping or cooking.

Turn off the auto-lock function on your mobile device

This will ensure your phone doesn’t lock while you are trying to follow a recipe.This will ensure your phone doesn’t lock while you are trying to follow a recipe.

What to do with cold food when the power goes out

• Food can remain safe in your fridge without power for 2 hours.

• Food stored at more than 5°C for 4 hours or more should be thrown out.

• If you have sufficient space in the freezer, after 2 hours remove foods from the fridge and place them in the freezer OR store in an esky with sufficient ice bricks.

• Avoid opening the freezer or fridge door as this will reduce the time the food can stay chilled or frozen.   

• If your freezer is efficient, and its door seals are in good condition, it can maintain food in a frozen state for between 1 and 2 days.

• If you are unsure about the length of time the power has been out, or temperature your food has been stored out, then throwing the food out is the safest option.

Further tips on what to do during and after a power outage can be found on the Food Safety Information Council’s webpage

When the power goes out

How to buy and handle your fresh fruit and veg to keep it safe

In Western Australia, we have access to a wide variety of fresh fruit and veg. As a lot of this produce can be eaten raw, there are some important food safety tips you should follow to ensure it stays safe.

This is particularly important if you have vulnerable people (such as those who are very young, very old, pregnant or immunocompromised) in your household, as significant outbreaks of food poisoning have been linked with some fruits and vegetables, such as Listeria and rockmelon.

At the shops 

• Avoid buying fruit and veg that has broken skin or is mouldy.

• Weirdly shaped produce is perfectly fine and often cheaper to buy

Bringing it home

• Keep loose, ready-to-eat fruit and veg away from high-risk foods such as fresh meat, poultry or seafood.

• Refrigerated pre-cut fruit and salads should be transported in a cooler bag, and away from high-risk foods.

Storing your fruit and veg at home

• Check any packaging for storage instructions, e.g. berries and cut pieces of fruit or salads will need to be covered, stored in the fridge and consumed by their use by date.

• Whole pieces of fruit, including tomatoes, should be stored outside the fridge or they may lose quality, such as their appearance, texture and flavour.

• Storing fruit in bowls can look attractive but may result in softer fruits getting bruised from the weight of other fruit on top, which may lead to mould growth, so you may prefer to store on a flat plate.

• Keep potatoes in a cool dark place to reduce sprouting and the formation of toxic alkaloid substances.

Washing

• Don’t wash your fresh fruit and veg until just before you want to eat them as excess moisture may promote microbial growth.

• Brush off any visible dirt and then wash under running drinking water. You can also peel them.

• Check the packaging as some salad greens may have been pre-washed and will not need to be washed again.

Reducing waste 

• Plan how much produce you need to buy. If you do end up with excess fruits and vegetables you can freeze many of them by cutting them up and then blanching them i.e. dipping into boiling water for a minute or two – not only does this help maintain the colour, flavour and texture, but it can also kill most food poisoning bacteria.

• It is best to freeze products by packing them in smaller portions, label and date.  

• You can also cook excess fruit or veg and then freeze in shallow containers once they have stopped steaming.

Eggs are a healthy, nutritious part of many Australians' diets but they are a potentially hazardous raw food so they need to be stored and handled like raw meat and chicken, to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

Why is egg safety important?  

Eggs can be contaminated by the bacteria Salmonella when they are laid. Salmonella is the most commonly reported bacteria responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks in Australia and is usually associated with eggs and egg products.

Salmonella infection causes gastroenteritis (commonly known as ‘gastro’) and symptoms can include headache, fever, stomach cramps, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting which can last days or weeks.

If eggs are not handled correctly, bacteria can spread around the kitchen on hands and utensils and get into food, which can make you sick.

Take care when buying eggs

• Always purchase eggs from a reputable supplier – the eggs should be individually stamped, in clean packaging and include the supplier’s details and date marking/labelling.

• Only purchase eggs that are clean, free of cracks and not leaking

Handle eggs safely

There are specific safe egg handling practices that should always be used to reduce the likelihood of getting food poisoning from eggs.

Key rules when handling eggs include:

• Don’t use eggs if they’re cracked or dirty – dirty eggs indicate that bacteria may be on the eggshell, and any cracks on eggshells mean that bacteria might be inside the shell.

• Don’t wash eggs – eggshells are porous, if you wash eggs the water makes it easier for bacteria to get inside the shell.

• Store your eggs in the fridge away from ready to eat foods – storing eggs in the fridge will make bacteria grow slower. Storing them away from other foods helps to protect those foods from contamination.

• Throw eggshells into the bin immediately after cracking – this is to avoid spreading bacteria to bench tops and other surfaces in the kitchen.

• Don’t separate eggs using the eggshell or your hands – if there is bacteria on the surface of the eggshell or your hands, it can be transferred to the egg yolk/white.  Always separate whites from yolks using a clean egg separator.

• Cook eggs to 72°C – if you cook eggs until both the white and yolk are solid, you will kill most pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella.

• Refrigerate raw egg products immediately after making and consume within 24 hours – keeping them for less time and below 5°C will limit bacterial growth.

Eggs from backyard chickens

When you have chickens at home it is important to make sure the chickens and eggs are handled hygienically. Key safety tips for keeping chickens and handling their eggs include:

• Always wash your hands after handling the chickens, eggs, feed and waste
• Keep nesting material clean and dry and replace regularly
• Don’t feed chickens any scraps that may be contaminated
• Collect eggs frequently, especially in warmer weather
• Don’t wash the eggs
• Store eggs in a clean container, separate to ready-to-eat foods

Foods containing raw or lightly cooked eggs

Homemade foods containing uncooked (raw), or lightly cooked eggs are often linked to food poisoning.

Examples of food that contain raw and lightly cooked and egg products include:

• mayonnaise
• aioli
• scrambled eggs
• custard
• cheesecake
• eggnog
• deep fried ice-cream
• mousse
• dipping batter
• hollandaise sauce

Commercially available versions of these foods (that you buy 'off the shelf') are generally safe, as they will almost certainly have been produced using pasteurised egg or will have been heat treated. To check, always read the label or get in touch with the manufacturer.

Consider using pasteurised egg products in recipes that will not be cooked or will only be lightly cooked.

Change to recipes that do not require raw eggs as an ingredient.

Vulnerable people such as the elderly, young children, pregnant women and those with suppressed immune systems should avoid eating raw egg products.

Despite the increasing focus on healthy and safe food in Australia, there are still lots of myths about safe food handling practices which can increase the risk of food poisoning incidents.

To help clear things up, we’ve compiled a list of the top food safety myths and the truths we should replace them with.

Food that looks and smells ok is safe to eat

The types of bacteria that cause food poisoning don't affect the taste, smell, or appearance of food.

Therefore, you should always stick to the 'use by' date and storage instructions on the packaging. These dates are not just guesswork; they have been worked out by scientific testing to ensure the food is safe.  

Food that drops on the floor is safe to eat if picked up within 3-5 seconds

Not true. Floors are often contaminated with harmful bacteria that will immediately attach to food. Food that drops to the floor should not be eaten or mixed in with other foods to be eaten later.

I’ve been handling food this way for years without anyone getting sick

You would likely not know. Many food poisoning incidents go under reported or unreported. Each year in Australia, it is estimated there are approximately 4.7 million cases of food poisoning that result in 47,900 hospitalisations, 38 deaths and a cost to the economy of $2.1 billion.

Diagnosis can only be made by a medical professional and involves the affected person submitted a stool sample for laboratory analysis.

Cooked food can’t cause food poisoning

This is only partly true. Properly cooked food is unlikely to cause food poisoning, but there are plenty of ways that cooked food can become contaminated after cooking.

This can happen if:

• food isn’t stored properly
• food is kept out of the fridge for long periods of time (>4 hours)
• food is prepared on a contaminated surface or using contaminated equipment
• people handling the food don’t use good personal hygiene

Certain bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, also produce toxins that aren’t destroyed by high temperatures. If food is contaminated with bacterial toxins, cooking the food may kill the bacteria, but the toxins will remain in the food.

Food poisoning is not serious, it is just an upset stomach

Symptoms of food poisoning usually include some or all of the following:

• diarrhoea
• nausea
• fever
• vomiting
• stomach cramps

Although most cases of food poisoning are mild and last only a day or two, some can be far more serious or even fatal. Vulnerable people such as young children, the elderly, people who are immunocompromised and pregnant women are far more likely to contract a food-borne illness and to suffer more severe symptoms.

Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to contract listeriosis, an infection caused by the bacterium Listeria, which can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, preterm birth, infant mortality, blood poisoning or brain infections.

Thankfully this is rare, but with more than four million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year, a few simple actions can cut the risk of food poisoning significantly.

Food poisoning is caused by the last thing you ate

It is natural to suspect that the last food you ate has caused your food poisoning, but this is rarely the case. Symptoms can take up a month to develop. Further information can be found on the WA Health Department’s webpage ‘Food poisoning’

Food should be allowed to cool completely before putting it into the fridge

No - Bacteria that cause food poisoning can multiply rapidly at temperatures between 5^oC and 60^oC.

You can allow hot food to stand for 20–30 minutes after coming out of the oven or from the stovetop (roughly when it stops steaming) and then place it in the fridge. It is also important to portion large quantities of hot food into smaller shallow containers for quicker cooling in the fridge.  Hot food should be cooled from 60°C to 21°C in two hours or less, then cooled further from 21°C to 5°C in four hours or less.

Raw chicken should be washed before cooking

Although most raw meat will have some bacteria on it, washing will not get rid of them. 

In fact, washing is more likely to spread harmful bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, clothing and equipment through the splashing of water droplets around the kitchen. Thorough cooking will kill any bacteria present.

The 'Float Test' – good eggs sink, bad eggs float

There is no way of knowing whether there are bacteria in or on an egg, and Salmonella which can cause food poisoning can be present whether the egg sinks or floats.

Bad eggs always smell bad

Eggs can smell and taste fine and still have Salmonella. Also, bacteria on the shell can get into ready-to eat food. Always discard cracked or dirty eggs. Keep hands, utensils and surfaces clean and dry. If an egg does smell bad, don't use it.

It is okay to eat mouldy food once the mouldy section is removed.

Mouldy food should not be consumed. Visible mould is usually an indicator that the food is more thoroughly contaminated. Fungi, bacteria and toxins can be present in areas of the food that are not visible, so what looks like a small area of contamination could be much larger.

If I peel fruit and vegetables, I do not need to wash them

The peeling process will expose fresh produce to potential cross-contamination by transferring any chemicals and harmful bacteria present to the edible, internal layers of the food. Soil particles and dirt contain contaminants and are often found on fresh produce. It is therefore important to thoroughly wash fruit and vegetables before and after peeling.