Entertaining

Entertaining can pose food safety challenges:

• Guests often bring food to share which means food can be out of the fridge for several hours
• Many people prepare food well ahead of the event, for some foods need to be carefully chilled, refrigerated and reheated safely
• You can quickly run out of room in your fridge to store all the food

To avoid poisoning your guests:

• Avoid temperature abuse – keep hot food hot and cold food cold.
• Cool food quickly if you prepare ahead of time and cool it in the fridge, not on the kitchen bench.
• Thaw any frozen food correctly in the fridge in advance or in the microwave.
• Keep food in the fridge covered and protected.
• Bring in an extra fridge or use eskies with ice to store excess drinks to make room in the fridge for the food.
• Keep raw meat and poultry separate from ready to eat foods (salads, vegetable dishes and desserts).
• Employ good hygiene practices – wash your hands.
• Don’t prepare food if you’ve been sick with vomiting or diarrhoea in the last few days.
• Cook mince meat patties and poultry thoroughly – no pink in the middle.
• Don’t leave nibbles and platters with perishable foods (i.e. soft cheese, dips etc) out for long.