Preventing food poisoning and information on foodborne and other related illnesses

There are four main things to remember for good food hygiene - we've called them the 4 Cs. You should think about them whenever you're in the kitchen.

The 4 Cs
1 cleanliness
2 cooking
3 chilling
4 cross-contamination

1 Cleanliness

You can prevent the spread of harmful bacteria by observing good personal hygiene and keeping work surfaces, utensils etc. clean.

It's important to wash your hands regularly, especially:

After visiting the toilet
After handling raw foods
Before touching ready-to-eat food

And remember:

Don't handle food when youa re ill with stomach problems, such as diarrhoea or vomiting
·on't touch food if you have sores or cuts, unless they are covered with a waterproof dressing

2 Cooking

Proper cooking kills food poisoning bacteria such as listeria, salmonella, E.coli 0157 and camplobacter. It's important to cook food thoroughly, especially meat. Make sure that food is cooked right through and piping hot in the middle.

When reheating food make sure it's piping hot all the way through and don't reheat it more than once.

3 Chilling

I'ts very important to keep certain foods at the right temperature to prevent bacteria growing or toxins forming. Always look at the label on the packaging. If it says that the food needs to be refrigerated, make sure you keep it in the fridge.

If food that needs to be chilled is left standing at room temperature, food poising bacteria can grow and multiply to dangerous levels. Cooked leftovers should be cooled quickly and then put in the fridge. Putting food in shallow containers and dividing it into smaller amounts will speed up the cooling process.

4 Cross-contamination

Cross-contamination is the transfer of bacteria from foods (usually raw) to other foods. The bacteria can be transferred directly when one food touches (or drips onto) another, or indirectly, for example from hands, equipment, work surfaces or knives and other utensils. Cross-contamination is one of the major causes of food poising.

To prevent cross-contamination:

Always wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw food
Keep raw and ready-to-eat food separate
Store raw meat in sealable containers at the bottom of the fridge, so it can't drip onto other foods
Use different chopping boards/work surfaces for raw food and ready-to-eat food
Clean knives and other utensils thoroughly after use with raw food

Why it is important to report food poising?

If you think your illness has been caused by food from a restaurant or other food business, the local environmental health department needs to know so it can investigate the business in question. If the environmental health officers find a problem with the business's food hygiene practices, and get the business to improve them, this could help prevent other people suffering form food poisoning.

Environmental Health Sheets - Foodborne and other related illnesses
Bacillus cereus
Campylobacter
Clostridium perfringens
Escherichia coli (VTEC)
Norwalk-like Viruses
Salmonella
Staphylococcus aureus

Environmental health departments have a statutory duty to investigate reported cases of food poisoning under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984.

Further details can be obtained from
Environmental Health Services
Spelthorne Borough Council
Knowle Green
Staines, TW18 1XB

Tel 01784 446291
Fax 01784 446437,
E-mail: Environmental.health.commercial@spelthorne.gov.uk