The Food Safety Information Council has launched its summer education campaign with TV and radio spots and a YouTube video to encourage people to use a thermometer to check their food is cooked safely.

Australian Food Safety Week research shows only 25% of Australian households own a meat thermometer and 70% of people said they didn’t know the safe cooking temperature of 75°C for high risk foods like hamburgers, sausages, mince, poultry and leftovers.

We know there are an estimated 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year. Cooking food to a safe temperature is a great step to reducing those cases.

Celebrity chef Fast Ed Halmagyi says in his radio spot, none of us can tell if food is cooked to a safe temperature just by looking at it. We should always use a thermometer to check whether it’s done.

In her radio spot, Henrietta the Hen gives advice on how to handle her eggs safely and our TV Community Service Announcement and YouTube video lets you know how simple it is to use a thermometer and what the safe temperatures are for cooking riskier foods.

We encourage everyone to drop into their local homeware or hardware store and pick up a thermometer when they are next at the shops. They don’t have to be fancy ones as a simple dial or digital thermometer can cost less than $20. Find out more