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HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDELINES
Because of consumer demand, preservatives have been
removed from many pre-prepared food. This together with
the changes in shopping habits to.a onee-a-week shop, mean
that safe handling and storage of food«is even more
important than ever.
The following tips should help you to ensure that the food
in your home is in as perfect condition as possible.
m Keep the time between buying chilled food and
placing it in your fridge as short as possible.
Tests showed that the temperature of 1 litre of
orange juice rose to 22°C in an hour between the
supermarket and home. It then took 11 hours to
get down to 7°C in the refrigerator.
Keep the refrigerator door closed as much as
possible. Remember that warm air is flowing in
as you are deciding what to have for tea!
m Do not push food together too much, try to allow
air circulate around each item.
m Cool cooked food as quickly as possible but do
NOT place in the refrigerator or freezer until
cool. (Leave food in a place as cool as possible in
order that it ean then be placed in the
refrigerator or freezer as soon as possible).
m Do NOT mix raw and cooked meat, they must be
in separate containers. Take care not to let the
meat juices drip onto other food. If the meat
does drip, remove everything and clean
thoroughly.
m Do not store food uncovered.
W The best way to defrost food is to put it in the
refrigerator to thaw slowly.
m Remove suspect food from your refrigerator and
clean the interior with a solution of bicarbonate
of soda in warm water (5ml to 0.5 litre of water).
m Never allow spillages to dry and harden.
m Ensure that food placed in the freezer is dated
and labelled and used in date order to ensure
that food is consumed at its best.
m It is important that food is used before its "best
before" date.
B Store eggs in the egg rack provided in the
refrigerator door. Discard any broken or chipped
eggs.
m Regularly check the refrigerator door seal to
ensure that it is clean and free from bits and
pieces.
10
= Always wash your hands with soapy water and
dry them with a clean towel before handling
food.
W Keep work surfaces clean and avoid cross
contamination by not using the same work
surface or knife, without washing them
thoroughly in between.
W Use kitchen roll wherever possible for cleaning
up food. If you use a dishcloth, be sure to boil it
frequently.
m The fresh foods to be frozen must be fresh and
of the best quality.
E The size of each pack should be small enough to
ensure that it is used in one go. Small packs
freeze more quickly and uniformly and give
better results.
m Frozen food, once thawed, must not be refrozen.
Lean food keeps better and longer than fatty
food, salt reduces the storage time.
a Wrap the food in polythene or aluminium
freezing bags or foil so that they adhere to the
food and provide an airtight seal.
m Packaging which is swollen or has traces of
refrozen water droplets on the pack could
indicate that the product has not been kept at a
suitable temperature and that it may have lost
its original quality. Partially thawed food must
not be refrozen, it must be consumed within 24
hours. Never exceed the storage times indicated.
m Never place hot food, bottles or cans of fizzy
drink in the freezer as they may explode.
Containers with a lid must not be filled to the
brim.
m Do not open the door or place extra fresh food
in the freezer next to food which is already
frozen as this could cause the temperature of the
frozen food to rise and its quality and storage
life to reduce.
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