Health and Safety Guidelines

Because of consumer demand, preservatives have been removed from many pre-prepared foods. This together with the changes in shopping habits to a once-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.

■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 super- market and home. It then took 11 hours to get down to 7°C in the refrigerator.

■Keep the freezer door closed as much as possi- ble.

■Do not push food together too much, try to allow air to circulate around each item.

■Cool cooked food as quickly as possible but do NOT place in the freezer until cool. (Leave food in a place as cool as possible in order that it can then be placed in the refrigerator as soon as pos- sible).

■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.

■Do not store food uncovered.

■The best way to defrost food is to put it in the refrigerator to thaw slowly.

■Remove suspect food from your refrigerator and clean the interior (see “Maintenance and Cleaning”).

■Never allow spills to dry and harden.

■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.

■It is important that food is used before its “best before” date.

■Store eggs in the egg rack provided in the refrig- erator door. Discard any broken or chipped eggs.

■Regularly check the refrigerator door seal to ensure that it is clean and free from debris.

■Always wash your hands with soapy water and dry them with a clean towel before handling food.

■Keep work surfaces clean and avoid cross conta- mination by not using the same work surface or knife, without washing them thoroughly in between.

■The foods to be frozen must be fresh and of the best quality.

■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.

■Frozen food, once thawed, must not be refrozen. Lean food keeps better and longer than fatty food, salt reduces the storage time.

■Wrap the food in polythene or aluminium freezing bags or foil so that they adhere to the food and provide an air light seal.

■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 time indicated.

■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.

■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.

Important

In the event of a power failure causing the temperature within your freezer to rise, do not re- freeze the food without checking its condition. The following guidelines should assist you:

Ice-cream:once thawed should be discarded.

Fruits & Vegetables: if soft should be cooked and used up.

Breads & Cakes: can be re-frozen without danger.

Shellfish: should be refrigerated and used up quickly.

Cooked Dishes: i.e. casseroles should be refrigerated and used up.

Large Pieces of Meat: can be re-frozen providing there are still ice crystals remaining within them.

Small Joints: should be cooked and can then be re-frozen as cooked dishes.

Chicken: should also be cooked and re-frozen as a cooked dish.