Council warns of summer time food poisoning risks

by Gráinne Connolly

Food poisoning is at its highest risk during summer time. 

Derry City and Strabane District Council's Environmental Health Food Team are encouraging the public to be well informed about the risks of food poisoning over the summer months. 

They're working in partnership with the Food Standards Agency. 

While most people love it when the weather gets warmer, the message is that it also means we need to be more careful in terms of food safety.

According to the Food Standard's Agency, new research indicates that people in Northern Ireland could be putting themselves and others at risk of food poisoning. 

It's due to the lack of knowledge of the 4 C's of food hygiene: 

• Chilling
• Cooking
• Cleaning 
• Avoiding Cross Contamination

Their research proved that people in Northern Ireland are lacking in knowledge:

• 44% of respondents said that they never check their fridge temperature 
• 44% said they didn't know what the fridge temperature should be - suggesting that many people's fridges may not be between the recommended 0 and 5°C. 
• 56% of people defrost meat or fish at room temperature - this puts themselves at higher risk as germs multiply more quickly at room temperature
• 49% said they don't use different chopping boards for different foods - increasing the risk of cross contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods
• 25% do not always check 'best before' dates before cooking or preparing food. 

Seamus Donaghy, Head of Health and Community Wellbeing with Derry City and Strabane District Council said: 

"These figures show that there's more people in Northern Ireland could do to keep themselves and their loves ones safe this summer. 

"That's why Derry City and Strabane District Council is working with the Food Standards Agency to promote good hygiene practices during the summer period. 

"We aim to encourage better hygiene practices for summer, when the risk of getting food poisoning goes up."

Mr Donaghy concluded in saying how important it is to wash your hands, especially before handling food: 

"Handwashing is also very important. People should wash their hands before starting to prepare food and cook food, after touching the bin, going to the toilet, handling pets or handling raw food."

There's more tips on how to stay safe this summer on the Food Standards Agency website: 

https://www.food.gov.uk/science/microbiology/your-definitive-guide-to-safe-summer-food