bookmarkCategory: Food safety

If food isn’t handled, cooked or stored properly, it can make you sick. This can mean vomiting, diarrhoea and/or stomach pain. For some people who have a chronic illness, food poisoning can be very dangerous. 

Food poisoning happens when bacteria (germs) grow and reproduce in food. This happens most often when the temperature of food is neither very hot nor very cold (between 5°C and 60°C). 

Food poisoning can be prevented by handling, cooking and storing food in ways that avoid this temperature ‘danger zone’.

Food safety when shopping 

Don’t buy:

• dented, swollen or leaking cans or containers or those with damaged packaging
• cracked or dirty eggs
• chilled or frozen foods left out of the freezer or that are starting to thaw
• foods with mould
• ready to eat foods left uncovered on counters
• takeaway hot foods that are not steaming hot
• refrigerated foods that don’t feel cold

Check the date on packages

• ‘Use by’ dates – means it’s not safe to eat the food after the ‘use by’ date
• 'Best before’ dates – means it’s best to eat this food before the date on the product. The food might still be safe, but may have lost some of its quality and nutritional value

Getting food home

• On the way home from shopping, put all the cold foods together to help them stay cold
• Take your shopping home as soon as you can. Put cold things in the fridge immediately
• For trips longer than 30 minutes, or on very hot days, put chilled or frozen foods in an insulated bag to keep cold

High risk foods

Take extra care when storing these foods when they are raw, and after they have been cooked:

• meat, chicken and turkey
• processed/deli meats like turkey and ham
• eggs
• seafood
• cooked pasta and cooked rice
• pre-made foods like coleslaw and pasta salads
• milk and yoghurt

Eating out? 

The NSW Food Authority’s Scores on Doors program helps you know how well restaurants, cafés or take away shops comply with NSW hygiene and safety requirements.

Helpful resources