How to avoid food poisoning

Raw meat: a main cause of food poisoning

I’ve lost count of how many friends at uni have been affected by food poisoning. Tens of thousands of people fall ill because of it each year in the UK. With summer pretty much upon us, and the barbeque season under way, cases for 2011 are set to rise even more. Cases of food poisoning peak in the summer because of meat not being cooked thoroughly on barbeques and the summer heat causing food to go off more quickly. There are some very simple rules to follow if you want to avoid becoming ill though. Here’s a quick guide to the habits which can prevent the spread of food poisoning causes (bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli or viruses such as the norovirus).

Good hygiene is one of the most important ways of preventing food poisoning. Washing your hands after going to the bathroom, before cooking, after taking out the bins, and after handling raw meat and fish will help stop the spread of bacteria. Drying your hands properly afterwards will also prevent the bacteria from proliferating throughout the kitchen in the water droplets. Speaking of drying your hands, use a clean towel or tea-towel to do so. Change these regularly (about once a week or more) and wash them at a temperature of 60 ºc. Also consider hygiene when it comes to your washing-up sponges, these are a breeding ground for germs so change these regularly too (around every two weeks). The final point for the hygiene section is about ensuring your cooking utensils are well cleaned before you start to cook. For certain ingredients you should also use separate utensils, for example don’t use the same chopping board and knife to chop up a pepper you plan to eat raw if you have just used that board and knife to slice raw meat.

Raw meat is the source of much food poisoning causing bacteria. This is why it’s always important to check meat is cooked properly before serving. Whilst it’s okay for red meats such as beef and lamb to be eaten rare (ie cooked on the outside but not the inside), other meats such as poultry should always be cooked through. You can check whether your meat is cooked through by cutting into it. If the juices released run clear, then the meat is properly cooked. You should also ensure that if you’re cooking poultry and it was previously frozen, that it is completely defrosted before cooking. Storing raw meat on the bottom shelf in your fridge will also prevent the spread of bacteria. Any juices from the raw meat won’t be able to leak onto other food this way.

Developing these habits should help prevent you from contracting food poisoning. If you do fall ill though, don’t worry. The usual symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and stomach cramps should disappear within a couple of days. If the vomiting does last more than two days, or you can’t keep liquids down for more than a day, or you have diarrhoea for more than three days, the NHS recommends that you see a doctor.

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