The Four C's of Food Safety

The food safety week is on , therefore one must never forget the Four C's - cleaning, cooking, chilling and cross contamination to protect your family against deadly germs.

Cllr Brian Spurr, Executive Member for Sustainable Communities Services at Central Bedfordshire Council said: "Studies by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) show more than half of us believe food is safe to eat just by its appearance or smell. Dangerous food bugs like E.coli and Salmonella don't always make food smell 'off' and do not affect the appearance of food. It's a cause of concern for the Council and we're supporting Food Safety Week by focusing on what goes on in people's own homes when preparing and cooking food."

The Four C's of Food Safety:

Cleaning - It is important to wash hands thoroughly and dry them on a fresh towel before preparing food. One must take care to wash hands with soap after using the toilet and after touching raw food, especially raw non vegetarian items.

Cooking - To protect the food against lethal germs like salmonella and E.coli, the food must be cooked well such that steam comes out it. When food is cooked well, germs are killed. Further, it is a must to cook meat poultry, pork and sausages very well. Food should not be reheated more than once.

Chilling - Keeping food chilled at the right temperature in the fridge stops the growth of germs.

Cross Contamination -Keeping the kitchen area clean is imperative to stop cross contamination. Raw meat should be cleaned separately and must not be mixed with ready to eat food. The chopping board for raw meat should also be a separate one.



Source: Medindia