THE HON TRISH WORTH MP

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for
Health and Ageing

TW 42/2003

10 November 2003

GUESS WHAT’S COMING TO DINNER?

FOOD SAFETY WEEK HIGHLIGHTS DO’S AND DON’TS OF FOOD HANDLING

Each year approximately 5.4 million Australians suffer from food poisoning, and about 10-20% of food poisoning is due to consumer mishandling of food.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Trish Worth, said the theme for Food Safety Week, 10-17 November, was about preparing food safely for family and friends.

“As the weather warms up and we entertain family and friends, the last thing we want is guests getting sick with food poisoning,” Ms Worth said.

“Food poisoning is not always just a minor inconvenience. It can have long-term effects and be extremely serious for the very young and the frail elderly as well as people with suppressed immune systems.”

Ms Worth said food poisoning could be avoided by following a few simple tips from the Food Safety Industry Council:

Domestic fridges are not very large and an overcrowded fridge or freezer does not allow the cold air to circulate freely around the food. This means foods can sometimes be inadequately frozen or chilled.
Take the beer and soft drinks out of the fridge and let them cool in ice. Keep meats, salads (especially cooked vegetable, pasta or rice salads), seafood and ready to eat foods such as dips and desserts in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.
You should have a fridge thermometer inside the fridge to check that your fridge is operating at the correct temperature (around 4-5 ° C).
Wash your hands, chopping boards, knives and anything else which will come into contact with the food before you start preparation and between preparing raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Cook poultry, minced meats, sausages and other pre-prepared meats until well done, right through to the centre. No pink should be left visible. Steaks and other solid pieces of meat can be cooked to taste.
Do not allow food to cool on the bench. As soon as steam stops rising, refrigerate or freeze in a leak-proof container.
Don’t prepare food for others if you’re feeling unwell or have gastroenteritis.

“There are strict government food safety regulations in place for professional food handlers which are aimed at reducing food poisoning, but it is also important for consumers to take a role in ensuring their families and friends don’t get sick,” Ms Worth said.

The Food Safety Information Council is a not-for-profit group of State and Australian government agencies, the food industry, consumer groups and professional associations. The Council’s job is to educate consumers in safe food handling.

For more information on Food Safety Week see www.foodsafety.asn.au .

Examples of recent food poisoning outbreaks from home catering:

Up to one hundred people at a Queensland wedding came down with food poisoning up to 36 hours after eating fish balls at the event.
46 people at a party in Victoria suffered food poisoning from either undercooking chicken or cross contamination of ready to eat foods from raw chicken.
31 people got sick at a privately catered office function in NSW from cooked chilled prawns.
19 people became sick in SA at a home Christmas function from salmonella from uncooked eggs used in a tiramisu and four of these people were hospitalised.
17 people in Victoria got food poisoning from a BBQ chicken or beef burger and two of these people were hospitalised.
11 people got food poisoning at a charitable event in Victoria from a meat-filled pancake which was not cooked thoroughly nor stored and transported at correct temperatures.
10 people in WA got sick from raw eggs used in a salad dressing.
8 people in SA got food poisoning from leaving a potato pie out to cool.

TV Chiefs of Staff: Note a video news release of the launch will be sent out by Satellite from Sky at 9.45am on Monday 10 November 2003 .

Media contacts: Mark Williams Media Adviser, Ms Worth’s Office 0401 147 558

Tania Bradley, Project Co-ordinator Food Safety Information Council
(02) 6254 4896 or 0407 626 688