Food safety 101

Food safety and safe food handling is important for us all, but particularly important when we have little people with immature digestive systems and gut microbiomes, we need to care for. As you would know, there are a few more obvious things we need to be particularly mindful of when we are preparing food for our little ones – ensure meat is well done, not offering honey before 12mo, not offering runny egg before 12-18mo etc – however, I thought it would be worthwhile covering food safety as a whole, just as a refresh.

Storing Food

When storing meat, poultry, dairy, vegetables etc, it is important that they are stored below 5°C. In line with this, ideally, defrost frozen foods in the fridge to avoid any drastic alterations to temperature whilst defrosting – we don’t want the item to go from frozen to warm, to cold again. Cooked foods should be placed in a covered container in the fridge to cool, or frozen immediately. Below is a table of common foods and their respective fridge and freezer storage recommendations:

A really good rule to keep in the back of your mind around food safety and family events is the 2-hour/4-hour rule. This is a scientifically backed rule based around how quickly microorganisms grow in food, that is not refrigerated. The time below is cumulative and time out of the fridge needs to be added up (preparation, storage, transport, display). For our little ones, who have less robust digestive systems, I would err on the side of caution and ensure they don’t eat food that has been out of the fridge for longer than two hours.

·      Food left on the table for less than 2 hours, can be eaten, or put back in the fridge for later

·      Food left on the table for 2-4 hours can be eaten, but cannot be put back in the fridge

·      Food left on the table for greater than 4 hours, must be thrown away

Reheating Food

When reheating foods, it is important that it is reheated to a minimum of 75°C for two minutes, to kill any potential bacteria. It is also important to ensure it is heated evenly, which can be tricky in the microwave, so make sure that you are regularly stirring/turning the food you are reheating. For our little ones, this might mean heating, then allowing to cool slightly before serving.

Cooking Food

When cooking foods, it is important that it reaches a certain internal temperature prior to serving. This is, for the most part, effortlessly done by most people, but I thought I would include the details below for both interest sake and if you happen to have a food/meat thermometer at home.

• Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck) – 75°C, cook right through to the centre, no pink

• Red meat (beef, lamb) – 77°C for children (well done), less for adults

• Mince, sausages – 75°C, cook right through tot the centre, no pink

• Fish – 69°C, cook until flesh is no longer see through and separates easily with a fork

• Pork – 70°C, cook right through, no pink

• Shellfish – 63°C, cooked until flesh is no longer see through

Final Tips

Avoid using the same chopping board for meat and vegetables to avoid cross contamination

• Similarly, avoid using the same (unwashed) board for cooked and uncooked meat

Wash your hands before cooking, between foods and between raw and cooked foods

Store raw meats, seafood and poultry where it is coldest in the fridge (bottom shelf).

• Wherever you store raw meats, poultry and seafood, make sure that juices and liquids can’t drip onto other foods

If in doubt, throw it out