Cooking your food
How to cook your food to prevent food poisoning.
Cooking food at the right temperature and for the correct length of time will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. Always check the advice on food packaging and follow the cooking instructions provided.
Meat
Before you serve pork, poultry and minced meat, make sure it is steaming hot and cooked all the way through. When you cut into the thickest part of the meat, check that none of the meat is pink and that any juices run clear. In a whole bird this is the area between the leg and the breast.
Follow this advice when cooking:
- turkey
- chicken
- duck
- goose
- pork
- minced meat products such as kebabs, sausages and burgers
When roasting a whole bird such as chicken or turkey, you should cook the stuffing separately, not inside the bird. This is because stuffed birds will take longer to cook and may not cook thoroughly.
After cooking, the food should be:
- cooled down as quickly as possible (ideally within two hours)
- stored in a fridge
- eaten within two days
Do not allow hot food to sit out at room temperature for long periods. Cool it and put your leftovers in the fridge or freezer within 1-2 hours.
How time and temperature kill bacteria
During cooking, heat energy transfers into and breaks down proteins in the food. The meat changes colour from pink to brown or to white. Its texture changes too. Cooking also causes the proteins in bacteria to break up so they no longer function and the bacteria die. This is why cooking removes the risk from harmful bacteria that are in some food.
Bacteria usually grow in the ‘Danger Zone’ between 6°C and 60°C. Below 56°C, growth is stopped or significantly slowed down. Above 60°C the bacteria start to die. Time and temperature are both important because proteins need to be heated up for a long enough time for them all to be broken down.
Standard advice is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes.
The other time and temperature combinations are:
- 60°C for 45 minutes
- 65°C for 10 minutes
- 70°C for 2 minutes
- 75°C for 30 seconds
- 80°C for 6 seconds
