Food and drink

Enjoy your Christmas dinner safely
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Advice to avoid food poisioning over Christmas

December 21, 2012

With Christmas just days away Reading council's food safety team has issued some common-sense tips for people preparing their festive food.

The guidance is designed to help people ensure their Christmas food is properly treated to minimise the risk of food poisoning.

Food hygiene top tips:

- Give your fridge and freezer a good clean before you stock up for Christmas.

- Don't overstock your fridge or freezer it makes it difficult to maintain the right temperature. Food should be stored separately in covered containers and properly wrapped.

- Wash your hands frequently, especially before preparing or touching food, after touching raw food, coughing, sneezing or touching pets.

- Frozen turkeys or other poultry must always be thawed thoroughly before cooking. A 15lb turkey will take 24-28 hours to thaw in the fridge and a 25lb bird will take two days to defrost.

- There is no need to rinse your turkey under the tap. This can splash harmful bacteria already on the bird around the kitchen, leading to the cross-contamination of other foods. Cooking will kill any bacteria present.

- To avoid cross-contamination between raw meat and any cooked or ready-to-eat foods use separate chopping boards and utensils if you can or wash them thoroughly before re-using them.

- Cook your stuffing separately, but if you feel you must stuff the bird, make sure you take the stuffed weight when calculating your cooking time.

- Poultry, sausages and chopped and minced meat must always be thoroughly cooked. Check to make sure there are no pink bits in the middle, that the juices run clear and that they are piping hot throughout.

- Don't use raw eggs in food that will not be cooked such as chocolate mousse or homemade mayonnaise.

- Always serve hot food piping hot and as soon as it is ready.

- Don't leave leftovers lying around. Make sure that hot food cools quickly before putting it in the fridge. To speed cooling, divide leftovers into smaller portions, place in shallow containers and stand in a tray of cold water.

- Avoid reheating food more than once. If you reheat leftovers make sure they're piping hot throughout and don't keep leftovers for more than two days.

- The food safety team is also asking residents to be aware of inedible cake decorations which are not properly labelled. Dusts and glitters used as cake decorations should be clearly marked as 'edible' and the label should carry an indication that the product is for food use.

Reading Borough Council's Lead Councillor for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Gittings, said: "By following these simple tips you can ensure that your Christmas day food is safe for all the family and friends."

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