London - Eating outside in the warm weather is one of the great pleasures of summer.
But if you’re not careful, it could also make you seriously ill.
Every year, one million people suffer from a bad bout of food poisoning, according to the Food Standards Agency, and numbers rise in the warmer months as millions of us enjoy alfresco dining.
That’s because bugs proliferate as temperatures rise, meaning that food can spoil more quickly, says Dr Kevin Hargin, head of food-borne disease control at the Food Standards Agency.
Here, leading food safety experts explain how to avoid becoming one of those affected this summer...
DON’T SERVE UP RARE BURGERS OR SAUSAGES
A juicy medium-rare steak is fine on a barbecue, but don’t try the same trick with a burger.
“This is because most bugs live on the surface of raw steak where contamination has occurred during butchering and are killed in the cooking process, as long as the meat hasn’t been processed,” says John Oxford, emeritus professor of virology at Queen Mary College, London.
“Beefburgers, when the steak is minced, can have bacteria spread throughout the burger, so bacteria can be alive and well when the burger is served.”
The same applies to sausages.
“The best way to check that your meat is properly cooked is to use a meat thermometer,” he says. “Meat should be at least 72c on the inside.”
If you don’t have a thermometer, spear the meat with a skewer and check to see that the juices run clear. Cutting into a burger will quickly reveal if it is pink - which means it is underdone.
A SHORTCUT TO SICKNESS
The sight of a barbecue chef prodding raw sausages with a fork and then using the same implement to remove cooked meat is a familiar one.
Unfortunately, this is a shortcut to food poisoning, suggest the experts.
“This is when bugs found on the surface of raw meat, including E.coli, can be transferred to sterilised cooked meat,” says Professor John Oxford.
“Use one fork to place raw meat on the barbecue, another to move the meat around during the cooking process and finally a third fork to move the cooked meat from the barbecue to the plate.”
UTENSILS CAN HARBOUR E COLI FOR A MONTH
People often think barbecue safety is solely about cooking meat properly. But dirty barbecues and equipment are also significant sources of food poisoning, says Dr Lisa Ackerley, a chartered environmental health practitioner and professorial fellow at the Royal Society of Public Health.
“Studies have found that E.coli can survive for more than 28 days on stainless steel surfaces such as cooking utensils, so keep them thoroughly clean,” she says.
Dr Ackerley suggests cleaning barbecues with products that cut through grease, but they don’t have to be designed purely for thepurpose.
It may seem obvious, but use a scourer if the grill is rusty and heavily ingrained with burnt offerings from the last barbecue. And use lots of hot water to rinse away residue.
ALWAYS PRECOOK CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
“Salmonella, a bacterium that’s a common cause of food poisoning, is typically found in poultry, eggs, unprocessed milk, meat and water. It can survive in underdone chicken,” says Dr Hargin.
He says it’s a good idea to thoroughly pre-cook the chicken in the oven so the juices run clear, before it even reaches the flaming grill - around 20 minutes at 180c for the average drumstick.
“Then you just need to give it a final charring for effect.”
Don’t only partly cook the chicken as this won’t kill off the bugs.
SIT ON PICNIC CHAIRS, NOT ON THE GRASS
That green swathe of grass may look inviting, but in public spaces it could harbour bugs, such as toxoplasma gondii, which is spread through animal droppings and can cause toxoplasmosis; and campylobacter, which is present in the soil.
Toxoplasmosis rarely causes symptoms in healthy people, but in some cases can make the lymph nodes swell, particularly in the throat or armpits. This can lead to flu-like symptoms.
Campylobacter, which is the most common cause of food poisoning, leads to sickness and diarrhoea and can result in long-term health problems.
“I don’t want to tell people not to sit on the ground, but it is better to be raised above it for hygiene reasons,” says Professor Oxford.
Or sit on a rug - though you’re likely to put your hands down on the ground as a support.
THROW OUT COOKED FOOD AFTER TWO HOURS
Guests at barbecues tend to graze, returning to the table for a refill. “Don’t overstock the table with food, but restock from the fridge when necessary,” says Dr Hargin.
Perishable food should not be out for more than two hours - any longer, throw it away. At temperatures of 90f (32c) and above, it should be thrown away after one hour.
And place old-fashioned nets over food when it is not being served. “This prevents flies from walking over your side salads and sausages,” he says. Flies carry bugs on their feet.
PUT ICEPACKS AT THE TOP OF THE COOL BOX
Perishable foods such as sandwiches and cold meats should be stored in a cool box for transporting and during the picnic when not being eaten.
“Bugs proliferate fast in warm temperatures and can quickly reach toxic levels in sandwich fillings,” says Professor Oxford.
Cooked meat and fish paste are more likely to cause a problem than jam or Marmite, which are too sugary and salty to be an ideal breeding ground for bugs.
Don’t over-pack a cool box. “You need to leave space to allow cold air to circulate,” says Kevin Hargin.
And it is better to put the icepacks on the top of the food rather than at the bottom since cold air sinks, so this will help ensure chilling throughout the box.
However, if all the food you put in the cool box is already chilled or frozen, it can be better to pack the items tightly to prevent the air circulating, which can raise the ambient temperature.
DONT' REFREEZE ICE CREAM
Serve ice cream immediately and if it melts, don’t put it back in the freezer for another day.
“Ice cream that has thawed completely can be a bug breeding ground because it contains milk and sugar, which are perfect food for bugs,” says Professor Oxford.
“If you pop it back in the freezer, the bugs will go into a dormant state and can cause food poisoning when you eat the ice cream.”
You can put ice cream back into the freezer when it is soft, but if it has completely thawed, it is best to throw it away.
WATCH THE DOUBLE DIPPERS
Putting a breadstick or crudite once in a communal dip is fine, of course, but twice is certainly not.
This is because bacteria from your mouth, which have transferred to the bitten end of the breadstick, can migrate to the dip.
“This is a quick way to spread streptococcal bacteria, which can cause everything from mild throat infections to life-threatening blood infections and a host of other organisms,” says Dr Hargin.
Encourage your party guests to spoon the dip onto a separate plate and create their own dip.
REHEATING RICE IS BAD NEWS
Rice can contain certain types of bacteria, including clostridium botulinum, which are very resistant to heat.
“If the rice has been grown in areas contaminated with animal droppings, then it can be contaminated with clostridium botulinum,” says Professor Oxford.
When exposed to high heat, clostridium botulinum can go into a protective spore phase, forming itself into a ball with a hard outer shell, meaning that even boiling water can’t destroy it.
As a spore, it can’t do much damage if the rice is eaten immediately because this form of the bacteria is not active.
But if you let the rice cool down it can change back into a lozenge-shaped bacteria that can replicate rapidly.
“Rice salad should be made from rice that has been rapidly cooled and should be eaten soon after serving,” says Dr Hergin.
Contaminated rice can give you more than just an upset stomach. The nerve toxin produced by the bacterium, botulinum, can lead to paralysis and is potentially fatal.
NO TO MILK IN THE FRIDGE DOOR
Everyone does it, but don’t store milk in the door of the fridge, particularly in warm weather.
Your fridge should cool food quickly to between 1.6c and 5c and prevent it from spoiling too quickly, but food in the door is exposed to warm air when the fridge is opened, so milk stored here may go off before its use by date.
According to the Which? Consumer Guide, milk should be stored in the main body of the fridge. The door racks are fine for eggs, condiments, jam and fruit juice as they have a longer shelf life.
WASH IN HAND-HOT WATER
The average kitchen sponge contains ten million bacteria per square inch, making it 200 000 times dirtier than a loo seat, according to research.
“In our home hygiene studies we have found that the cloth is often the dirtiest item in the home,” says Dr Ackerley.
“We have found billions of bacteria on cloths, including E.coli, which could cause serious illness.”
“So using a kitchen cloth could mean that, instead of cleaning, you are just spreading bacteria.”
The solution is to replace sponges and cloths at least weekly and to wash them thoroughly in hot, soapy water (too hot to immerse the hands for longer than a second) several times each day, says Professor Oxford.
“This will kill most of the microbes since campylobacter and E.coli, which are common causes of food poisoning, will be destroyed in temperatures of 80c.”
BEWARE CHICKEN PACKAGING
Recent research found that three-quarters of supermarket roasting chickens are contaminated with campylobacter. The most common cause of food poisoning, campylobacter poisoning, affects around 280 000 people a year in Britain and around 80 percent of cases are caused by eating contaminated poultry.
Symptoms include acute diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and fever.
However, you’re not just at risk from eating the chicken - these bugs can survive on food packaging and even the shopping bag in which you carried it home.
So at the supermarket, make sure that you pack raw chicken separately from other foods that won’t be cooked and avoid putting it in a “bag for life”.
And after handling chicken or the packaging always wash your hands.
THE SNIFF/TASTE TEST
Don’t rely on the traditional sniff test to see if a food is off or past its use-by date.
Though your nose may be able to tell you if something has spoiled, it can’t detect bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli, which don’t produce a smell.
Tasting things to check is also not recommended, as even just a mouthful of heavily contaminated food can make you ill. The bacteria may not make food taste off.
DON'T PLONK COOL BOX ICE IN A DRINK
Tempting though this may be, recycling ice cubes which have been floating around the bottom of the cool box is a sure way to spread bugs.
“Though many people use reusable cooler bags, lots of people just put crushed ice or ice cubes at the bottom of their cool box,” says Professor Oxford.
The ice in the cool box can be a reservoir of bugs from raw meat or whatever else you have stored in it.
BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT DISPOSABLE BARBECUES
“These are not meant to cook large volumes of food and the heat may last only a short while,” says Dr Hargin.
Supermarket disposable barbecues, which can cost as little as £5 (about R100), will usually cook enough sausages and burgers for a family meal, but smaller instant ones, costing around £2, give only enough heat for two people to cook themselves a meal.
“The problem arises when the chef tries to cook too much food on a disposable barbecue that’s designed for a much smaller number of people,” says Kevin Hargin.
The coals cannot deliver enough heat and so the food that is cooked later will be underdone.
Daily Mail