New food safety summer TV campaign launched

Media release: 1 May 2016

A new TV community service announcement was launched today for the start of the Food Safety Information Council’s summer entertaining campaign.

‘Summer and the holiday period are a great time to get together to entertain family and friends but it is also a time that the risk of food poisoning increases with warmer temperatures,’ Council Chair Rachelle Williams said.

‘Australia has a well-deserved reputation for a safe and healthy food supply but occasionally things can go wrong. The Food Safety Information Council estimates that about one in five cases of food poisoning result from something that has occurred in the home.

‘I am delighted to launch this new TV community service announcement ‘The way you cook can make you crook’ which provides sensible advice on safe food handling at a summer BBQ. The Council’s summer campaign also includes radio community service announcements,’ Ms Williams concluded.

The Council has five key tips for safe food handling while BBQing:

  1. Keep your meat in the fridge under 5° C until you are ready to put it on the BBQ and keep all ready to eat food covered until you are ready to eat it.
  2. Always wash your hands before handling food and after handling raw meat or chicken
  3. Use a meat thermometer – don’t guess your chicken, sausages and hamburgers have reached 75°C
  4. Don’t contaminate cooked meat by putting it back on the plate the raw meat was on
  5. If you’re travelling to a BBQ or picnic put all perishable foods in a cooler with raw meat and poultry in sealed containers at the bottom and pack with ice bricks.

The Food Safety Information Council is a health promotion charity and Australia’s leading disseminator of consumer-targeted food safety information. The Council aims to address the estimated 4.1 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year that result in 31,920 hospitalisations, 86 deaths and 1 million visits to doctors on average each year.

The TV ad can be accessed on Youtube and radio announcements here

 

Media contact:

Lydia Buchtmann, Food Safety Information Council, 0407 626 688 or info@foodsafety.asn.au