Food safety at home

Food safety at Christmas

In addition to the food safety tips below, help prevent food poisoning over the Christmas period by:

making a food plan for Christmas dinner and the few days after, to make the most of leftovers while ensuring they remain safe to eat
clear out your fridge / freezer to make room for Christmas food shop, and reduce the risk of food being stored incorrectly

Follow these food safety tips to help prevent food poisoning:

when shopping for food, take enough shopping bags to the shop to ensure that cooked and raw food are stored separately
buy a fridge thermometer to ensure that your fridge is cold enough (0 - 5°C)
give frozen meat enough time to defrost in a fridge or cool place – allow 10 to 12 hours of defrost time per kg
check safety information on food labels before preparing it
wash your hands before and throughout all food preparations
don't wash raw poultry and other meat
use different utensils, plates and chopping boards for raw, ready-to-eat and cooked food. If you can't use different utensils, wash them thoroughly between tasks.
ask the butcher to cut the meat into smaller pieces so that you can put it straight in the oven when you need to
use a food thermometer to check that meat reaches 75°C in the thickest part
cook stuffing in a separate roasting tin; stuffing inside the turkey adds cooking time
put leftovers in fridge within 2 hours, and eat them within 2 days or put them in freezer and only reheat once
if you're having a buffet, keep chilled foods out of fridge for the shortest time possible, and no longer than 4 hours
if you've had enough of cooking and fancy a takeaway, make an informed decision about the outlet's food and hygiene safety using the Government of Jersey's Eat Safe food safety scheme