Should you worry?

With one million of us in the UK getting a bout of food poisoning annually, it seems we are right to be careful about what we eat.

But once you are aware of a few food safety basics about cooking, storing and reheating food, you can be confident about when food is safe to eat, and when to throw it away.

Chicken: The rules

A bacteria called campylobacter, found in raw chicken, causes 280,000 cases of food poisoning every year in the UK. That’s more than E.coli, listeria and salmonella added together.

Cook it through

To kill the campylobacter bacteria, chicken must be cooked right through to the middle. Cut into the deepest part of the chicken and check that there is no pink meat. You should also check that the juices are clear, not pink. If it’s not ready, cook it for longer then check again.

Keep it cool

Always keep chicken in the fridge, and avoid raw chicken coming into contact with other food. Always wash your hands, knives and chopping boards with soap and hot water after handling raw chicken.

Get tech

Meat thermometers can be used to check the temperature in the centre of the food. They’re easy to use, and you can pick one up for well under £10. The accepted guidelines are that burgers and sausages should reach 71C, and chicken should reach a slightly higher 74C.

When is rare meat safe?, 

'Use by' vs 'best before'

Which date is the one you should throw food away after?

When is it safe to reheat leftovers?

Heating food thoroughly to 74C all the way through kills the bacteria, making it safer to eat.

Microwaves can leave cold spots unless the food is mixed halfway through heating. Cold spots mean the bacteria are still present.

Reheating rice

Keep a cool fridge

Keep your fridge within the safe range (between 0C and 5C). Don’t put warm food into the fridge as it can quickly raise the temperature to unsafe levels. Wait until food has cooled to room temperature before you put it in the fridge.

Food safety

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