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 | health information | health factsheets
Food hygiene
This factsheet is for people who would like information about food hygiene. Food hygiene is vital to prevent food poisoning, which can lead to gastroenteritis. For more information on gastroenteritis, please see the separate BUPA factsheet, Gastroenteritis.
According to the Food Standards Agency, about 70,000 people in England and Wales get food poisoning each year.
Food poisoning has a range of symptoms, including diarrhoea, stomach pains, nausea and vomiting. It can sometimes cause more serious illness, organ failure or even death especially in vulnerable groups such as babies, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women.
What causes food poisoning?
Many cases of food poisoning are caused by micro-organisms, including bacteria, viruses and moulds. The spread of these germs and the illnesses they cause can be prevented by practising good food hygiene.
Bacteria responsible for food poisoning can grow in food quickly, especially in warm and moist conditions. Just a single bacterium on an item of food left out of the fridge overnight could harbour many millions of bacteria by the morning, enough to make you ill if you eat it.
Most bacteria grow best and increase in number in a moist environment between 5°C and 60°C - a range of temperatures known as the 'growth' or 'danger' zone. Colder or hotter than this, bacteria cannot grow effectively. This explains why one of the basics of food hygiene is to keep raw or cold food cold, and cooked or hot food, piping hot.
Bacteria that cause food poisoning are found in many foods, including:
- meat and meat products - such as minced meat and patés
- poultry - such as chicken or turkey
- seafood - fish and shellfish
- eggs and raw egg products (such as mayonnaise)
- unpasteurised milk (or milk contaminated after pasteurisation)
- soft and mould-ripened cheeses
- cooked foods - such as fried rice
How you become ill
Food poisoning from bacteria can occur in different ways. Some types of bacteria release poisons called toxins while they are growing in food. These toxins will cause food-poisoning symptoms soon after the food is eaten.
With other types of food poisoning, the bacteria grow in the body first before causing symptoms. This leaves a gap between eating and symptoms called the incubation period. The incubation period varies in length - it can be a few hours or up to a few days.
Improving food hygiene
Following some simple rules for shopping, storing, preparing and cooking can stop bacteria from contaminating your food and multiplying in it.
Wash your hands
Good personal hygiene is an important way to stop food bugs from spreading. Washing your hands frequently is especially important:
- wash your hands and nails before handling food, when you switch between handling cooked and uncooked foods, and after going to the toilet
- use warm water and soap for washing, cold water is less effective
- rinse your hands well and dry them on a clean hand towel, not on the dishcloth or your apron
- cover up cuts and sores with a waterproof plaster
Store food correctly
Unless it is preserved, such as by canning or drying, food needs to be kept at the correct temperature. This helps to prevent bacteria from growing or toxins from forming. Look at the label for guidance on how to keep food.
- Store fresh food shopping in the fridge within two hours of purchase - sooner if the weather is hot.
- Store meal leftovers in the fridge within two hours of preparation - sooner if the weather is hot. Don't keep leftovers for longer than two days.
- Always follow 'Use by' dates on food.
- Follow any instructions on the packet to keep fresh food in the fridge.
- Don't overlook other instructions - for instance 'once opened, keep refrigerated' or 'once opened, consume within three days'.
- Raw food such as meat should be stored in airtight containers and kept at the bottom of the fridge to prevent juices or blood from dripping onto other food. Don't allow it to make contact with cooked food or items such as salads as these will not be reheated and the bacteria that get onto the food will not be killed.
- Defrost frozen foods in the fridge - not at room temperature.
- Don't overfill the fridge - food may not cool properly.
- Keep the fridge at less than 5°C and the freezer at -18°C.
Avoid cross-contamination
Cross-contamination occurs when bacteria from one food spread to another food. There is a particular risk that bacteria will spread from raw meat to food that has already been cooked or is eaten raw, such as salads. To avoid cross-contamination:
- never prepare ready-to-eat food using a chopping board or knife that you have used to prepare raw meat, poultry or seafood, unless they have been washed thoroughly first
- wash cloths and drying-up towels regularly on the hot cycle or soak in a dilute solution of bleach
- wash up using warm soapy water - use rubber gloves if necessary
- wipe down and disinfect surfaces and utensils regularly, using a detergent or dilute solution of bleach - always read the safety instructions first
- never use a marinade that has already been used on raw meat for cooked food, unless it has been boiled thoroughly
- always use a clean plate to serve food
Cook food safely
If food is not cooked to a hot enough temperature, food bacteria can still survive. The following advice will help you to cook safely.
- Follow recipe or packet instructions on cooking time and temperature, ensuring the oven is pre-heated properly.
- Food should be piping hot before serving.
- Take special care that pork, sausages, burgers and poultry are cooked through and aren't pink in the middle. Using a clean skewer, pierce the meat. When cooked properly, the juices run clear. If you are cooking steak rare, seal it on the outside, so that every surface is brown.
- Don't cook foods too far in advance. Once cooked, keep foods covered and piping hot until it's time to eat them.
- When you microwave food, stir it well from time to time to ensure it cooks through evenly.
- Consider using a food thermometer to check that food is cooked to the right temperature.
Special occasions
Even if you are usually careful about food hygiene, it is very easy to be lax on special occasions such as a barbeque, preparing a picnic or cooking for a party. Here are some tips.
- If you are cooking for a large party, consider fridge space. An over-filled fridge may not cool the food sufficiently, so you might need to buy certain foods at the last minute.
- Party foods that normally need to be refrigerated shouldn't be left out on the sideboard for hours while the party goes on - they can easily become contaminated. Serve individual portions and keep leftovers stored in the fridge.
- When preparing a picnic, take the food out of the fridge at the last minute and use a cool bag to keep it chilled and covered until you eat. If you are handling food, consider taking antiseptic hand wipes.
- For barbeques, only start cooking when the charcoals are glowing red with a layer of grey ash. Move the food around the grill and test the centre with a clean skewer to check it is cooked through. Charred on the outside doesn't mean it's cooked on the inside. Serve food straight away or keep it in a hot oven until you are ready to eat.
- Take care not to cross-contaminate raw and cooked meat by using separate utensils.
Eating out
Most people who have suffered from suspected food poisoning believe that the culprit food was eaten away from home. You usually can't inspect the kitchens when you eat out, but there are certain warning signs of poor hygiene standards:
- a dirty restaurant, dirty toilets, dirty cutlery or crockery
- rubbish and overflowing bins outside the restaurant - these could attract vermin
- staff in dirty uniforms, dirty fingernails, long hair not tied back
- hair or insects in food
- raw food and ready-to-eat food displayed together
- hot food that is not cooked through properly and cold food that is served lukewarm - if you are concerned about what you are served, don't eat it
If you are concerned about the hygiene standards of a restaurant or takeaway, or you have a suspected case of food poisoning, report the case to the environmental health service of your local authority (council). This will help to ensure that other people don't suffer in the same way.
Further information
Sources
- NOIDs - Food Poisoning. Health Protection Agency.
www.hpa.org.uk
accessed 8 September 2006
- What to do. Food Standards Agency.
www.eatwell.gov.uk
accessed 11 September 2006
- Food safety and foodborne illness. World Health Organisation.
www.who.int
accessed 11 September 2006
- Five keys to safer food. World Health Organisation.
www.who.int
accessed 11 September 2006
- PRODIGY Guidance - Gastroenteritis. UK Department of Health. PRODIGY.
www.prodigy.nhs.uk
accessed 11 September 2006
- Food bugs. Food Standards Agency.
www.eatwell.gov.uk
accessed 11 September 2006
- Simon C, Everitt H, Birtwistle J, Stevenson B. Oxford Handbook of General Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002
- Preparing. Food Standards Agency.
www.eatwell.gov.uk
accessed 11 September 2006
- Cooking. Food Standards Agency.
www.eatwell.gov.uk
accessed 11 September 2006
Published by BUPA's health information team, healthinfo@bupa.com, November 2006.
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