Make sure that you wash your hands before you eat any food, or use a hand santiser – particularly useful if you are eating at a picnic or other venue with no soap and water available.
Prepare food as hygienically when cooking outside as when inside:
- Wash down all food preparation boards and surfaces regularly then dry them thoroughly afterwards.
- Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling foods such as raw meat, to avoid the risk of cross-contamination.
- Be careful to keep marinades for raw and cooked meats apart, and throw away any leftover marinade if you've been dipping a brush in and out of it.
- Don't forget to clean up thoroughly after a barbeque, including the barbeque grill and utensils.
- Don’t leave food such as dips, dairy products and meat out of the fridge for more than a couple of hours, and don’t leave food in the sun.
Take care in handling raw meat:
- Always wash your hands after touching raw meat.
- Use separate utensils (plates, tongs and containers) for cooked and raw meat.
- Never put cooked food on a plate or surface that has had raw meat on it, including on the barbeque itself.
- Keep raw meat in a sealed container away from foods that are ready to eat, such as salads and buns.
- Don’t put sauce or marinade on cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat.
When cooking meat on a barbeque, such as poultry (chicken or turkey), pork, steak, burgers or sausages:
- Thoroughly defrost any frozen meat before cooking it.
- Make sure the coals are glowing red so that they are hot enough.
- Move the meat around the barbeque and turn it regularly, so that it is evenly cooked.
- Check that food made from minced meat (e.g. sausages and burgers) is piping hot in the centre and that no pink meat is visible (check this at the thickest part of the meat). Any juices should be clear.