When the temperatures soar, barbecues grow in popularity. There's something appealing about cooking your meal out on the open coals, lapping up the sunshine and enjoying a social gathering with family and friends. To make sure that your BBQ is enjoyable for all the right reasons, North Ayrshire Council's Environmental Health team is urging people to follow a few simple rules this summer.
Environmental Health has produced a leaflet (pdf 8.2mb) which outlines simple tips on how to avoid on the most common bacteria that cause food-poisoning and what can be done to avoid becoming ill.
Levels of food poisoning soar during the summer months when many people enjoy barbecues and al fresco dining, with more than 120,000 extra cases of illness recorded across the UK when the weather is warmest according to the Food Standards Agency.
There are five simple rules to avoiding food poisoning:
· Never eat food after the 'use by' date on the label
· Keep your fridge at 5°C or below
· Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing food
· Keep raw meat, fish, poultry and raw foods away from cooked and ready-to-eat foods
· Cook all foods until they are piping hot all the way through
North Ayrshire Councillor Tom Barr, said:
"Some 244 cases of food poisoning were reported in North Ayrshire in 2009. We expect to see the number of cases increasing as the weather gets warmer and barbecues and eating outside become more frequent.
"Food poisoning is a miserable experience that can be so easily avoided. Just following simple steps in the kitchen can mean you don't become ill.
Some useful websites are:
Food Standards Agency
Safe kids