Food Hygiene Advice

Studies show that, contrary to popular belief, the kitchen contains the most germs in the home.

One study 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 pets. They can rapidly spread without proper care.

If food isn’t cooked, stored and handled correctly, people can become ill with food poisoning, colds, flu and other conditions.

Washing hands

Hands are the main way germs are spread, so it’s important to wash them thoroughly with soap and warm water before cooking and after touching raw meat.

Raw meat, including poultry, contains harmful bacteria that can spread very easily to anything they come into contact with. This includes other food, worktops, tables, chopping boards and knives.

“Lots of people think they should wash raw chicken, but there's no need," says Sam Montel of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). "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 meat away from ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit. These foods won’t be cooked before you eat them so any germs that get on to them won’t be killed.

The FSA says there’s no clear evidence to say whether plastic or wooden chopping boards are safer for general home use. “You should use different chopping boards for raw and ready-to-eat foods,” says Montel.

When storing raw meat, always keep it in a clean, sealed container and place it on the bottom shelf of the fridge where it can’t 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 right through to the middle before you eat it.

When cooking burgers, sausages, chicken and pork, cut into the middle to check that the meat is no longer pink and that it’s piping hot, i.e. 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 the juices are no longer pink or red.

Pork joints and rolled joints shouldn’t be eaten rare (not thoroughly cooked). To check when these types of joint are ready to eat, put a skewer into the centre of the meat and check that the juices are no longer pink or red.

It’s safe to serve steak and other whole 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 (i.e. cooked quickly and at a high temperature on the outside only) in order to kill any bacteria on the meat’s surface.

If you’ve cooked food that you’re not going to eat immediately, cool it at room temperature then store it in the fridge. Putting hot food in the fridge means it doesn't cool evenly, which can cause food poisoning.

Montel's advice is to keep the coldest part of your fridge between 0°C and 5°C (32°F and 41°F). “If your fridge has an internal freezer compartment that is iced up, the fridge could struggle to maintain its temperature,” she says.

Don’t eat these rare (not thoroughly cooked):

• Poultry
• Pork
• Burgers
• Sausages
• Rolled joints
• Kebabs

Cleaning up

Wash worktops and chopping boards before and after cooking as they are sources of cross-contamination of germs.

A study found that the average cutting board had three times more faecal bacteria than a typical lavatory seat.

Damp sponges and clothes are the perfect place for bacteria to breed. Studies have shown the kitchen sponge to have the highest germ count in the home. Wash and replace kitchen cloths, sponges and tea towels frequently.