You may think of yourself as a pretty clean and hygienic person – you wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap, take a daily shower and wear freshly laundered clothes. But there are some common mistakes people make in the home that are in fact surprisingly unhygienic – especially when it comes to food and the kitchen.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has revealed the most common food hygiene mistakes people make in their kitchens, in line with the start of their new e-learning course in Food Safety, Huffington Post reports.
Here are the everyday pitfalls we make…
1. If it looks fine and smells fine, you can eat it
This thought is a potentially hazardous one. Many people think that, if there are no obvious signs according to your sight and smell, then dangerous pathogens are not present. However, the food safety experts say this is not a correct indicator of good food hygiene. Harmful bacteria can exist on the food without affecting its sight, smell or appearance at all. Instead, you should judge the safety of your food by how long you have had it.
2. Using only one pair of tongs for a BBQ
When you’re in the middle of cooking a big BBQ, trying not to burn the sausages and making sure the burgers are cooked right through might be your main concern. But there is another problem – if you only use one pair of tongs for all of the different foods, from raw meat to salads, it can lead to dangerous cross-contamination.
3. Not separating raw from ready-to-eat foods
The risk of food poisoning becomes increasingly high when raw meat is mixed with ready-to-eat food. This is well-known in the catering industry but members of the public often do not take heed of this hazard. In fact, campylobacter, which is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK, has been detected on 5.7% of the outer packaging of supermarket chickens. Separating foods is essential for hygiene.
4. Washing raw chicken
Campylobacter is on around 60% of chicken bought at the supermarket so cooking the meat right though is important for killing the bacteria. However, many may make the mistake of washing the raw chicken before cooking. This is a bad move as it means the campylobacter can spread elsewhere in the kitchen.
5. Having pets in the kitchen
Does your cat jump up onto your kitchen worktops? It happens in most households no doubt but ideally pets should be kept out of the kitchen altogether to stop the spread of pathogens.
