Shopping

Some useful food safety tips when shopping for your groceries include:

• Choose a clean trolley or basket.
• If you have re-usable shopping bags, regularly wash them to keep them clean.
• Don’t put fresh fruit and vegetables you won’t peel or cook before eating directly in the trolley.  Put them in a clean bag.
• Avoid food with damaged packaging, i.e. check cans for swelling and/or leakage, broken tamper seals, rusty or severely dented cans, and damaged seams.
• Don’t buy food that has mould visible (except for some cheeses and cured meats which mould is part of the product) or has deteriorated or shows signs of spoilage.
• Avoid foods past there Use-by Date as they no longer safe to eat. Foods past their Best-Before Date are perfectly safe to eat but they may have lost some of their nutritional value or quality.
• Check the packaging when selecting meat, poultry and seafood to make sure it is not leaking any juices.
• Put your meat, poultry and seafood in separate bags from fruit and vegetables.
• Shop for non-perishable food first and leave chilled and/or hot foods last.
• Keep hot foods separate in the trolley from chilled and frozen foods.
• Avoid over-buying.  Perishable foods have a limited shelf life.
• Shopping should be last on your ‘to-do’ list.  Once finished, take it home as soon as possible.  Avoid leaving your shopping in a hot car.
• When home, pack chilled and frozen products into your refrigerator or freezer first.
• Don’t leave the hot chicken on the bench waiting for dinner later. Either refrigerate or keep hot in the oven.