There are a number of simple steps that you can take to help prevent food poisoning. Here are some of the most important:

• Always wash your hands before preparing food, and in between handling raw meats and other foods, to prevent cross contamination.
• Follow all the ‘Best Before’ and ‘Use By’ dates on food packaging.
• Throw food out after about three days in the fridge, even if it looks OK to eat.
• When storing food, keep raw meat and seafood away from food that requires no preparation. The best place to keep them is on the lower shelf of the fridge so that they do not drip on any foods below.
• Rinse vegetables and fruit before eating if you are going to eat them raw.
• Always make sure meat is cooked through thoroughly. A good way to check this is to ensure that the juices run clear or use a thermometer.
• Do not wash raw meat before cooking it. This is unnecessary because you will kill all the bacteria when you cook the meat, and washing the meat can spread the bacteria to other foods in the vicinity. This is particularly important when washing poultry such as chicken.
• Store cooked food in the fridge soon after cooking, and always within an hour or so.

For further information visit the Food Safety Opens in a new window website.

If you suspect you are suffering food poisoning visit the food poisoning page to see what to do and how we investigate complaints of food poisoning in the Torbay.