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
to have shown 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.
• 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 refrigerator until cool. (Leave food
in a cool place in order that it can then be placed in
the refrigerator as soon as possible).
• 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.
• Remove suspect food from your refrigerator and
clean the interior (see “Maintenance and
Cleaning”).
• Never allow spillages to dry and harden.
• Store eggs in the egg rack provided in the
refrigerator 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
contamination by not using the same work surface
or knife, without washing them thoroughly in
between.
Health and Safety Guidelines
6
