1、How to prepare and cook food safelyStudies show that the kitchen contains the most germs in the home. One found that the kitchen sink contains 100,000 times more germs than the bathroom. Germs such as E. coli, campylobacter and salmonella enter the kitchen on our hands, raw food and through our pets
2、. They can rapidly spread if were not careful. If food isnt cooked, stored and handled correctly, people can become ill with food poisoning, colds, flu and other conditions. Washing hands Our hands are one of the main way germs are spread, so its important to wash them thoroughly with soap and warm
3、water before cooking, after touching the bin, going to the toilet, and after touching raw food.Raw meat, including poultry, can contain harmful bacteria that can spread easily to anything it touches. This includes other food, worktops, tables, chopping boards and knives.“Lots of people think they sh
4、ould wash raw chicken, but theres no need, says food hygiene expert Adam Hardgrave. Any germs on it will be killed if you cook it thoroughly. In fact, if you do wash chicken, you could splash germs on to the sink, worktop, dishes or anything else nearby.”Take particular care to keep raw food away fr
5、om ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit. These foods wont be cooked before you eat them so any germs that get on to them wont be killed. “Use different chopping boards for raw and ready-to-eat foods,” says Hardgrave.When storing raw meat, always keep it in a clean, sealed container and
6、place it on the bottom shelf of the fridge where it cant touch or drip on to other foods.Cooking Cooking food at the right temperature will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. Check that food is piping hot throughout before you eat it. When cooking burgers, sausages, chicken and pork, cut i
7、nto the middle to check that the meat is no longer pink, that any juices run clear and that its piping hot (steam is coming out).When cooking a whole chicken or other bird, pierce the thickest part of the leg (between the drumstick and the thigh) to check that there is no pink meat and that the juic
8、es are no longer pink or red. Pork joints and rolled joints shouldnt be eaten pink or rare. To check when these types of joint are ready to eat, put a skewer into the centre of the meat and check that there is no pink meat and the juices are no longer pink or red.Its safe to serve steak and other wh
9、ole cuts of beef and lamb rare (not cooked in the middle) or blue (seared on the outside) as long as they have been properly sealed (cooked quickly and at a high temperature on the outside only) to kill any bacteria on the meats surface. If youve cooked food that youre not going to eat immediately,
10、cool it at room temperature (ideally within one to two hours) and then store it in the fridge. Putting hot food in the fridge means it doesnt cool evenly, which can cause food poisoning. Hardgraves advice is to store food in the fridge below 5C (41F). “If your fridge has an internal freezer compartm
11、ent that is iced up, the fridge could struggle to maintain its temperature,” he says.Washing fruit and vegetables Its advisable to wash fruit and vegetables under cold running water before you eat them. This helps to remove visible dirt as well as germs that may be on the surface of your fruit and v
12、eg.Peeling or cooking fruit and vegetables can also remove these germs. Never use washing-up liquid or other household cleaning products as they might not be safe for human consumption and you may accidently leave some of the product on the food. Cleaning up Wash all worktops and chopping boards bef
13、ore and after cooking as they can be a source of cross-contamination. The average kitchen chopping board has around 200% more faecal bacteria on it than the average toilet seat.Damp sponges and cloths are the perfect place for bacteria to breed. Studies have shown the kitchen sponge to have the highest number of germs in the home. Wash and replace kitchen cloths, sponges and tea towels frequently.
