Barbecues

Barbecues are a great way to enjoy food with family and friends, but cooking outdoors can make it harder to keep food at safe temperatures and prevent cross-contamination. Follow these simple food safety tips when preparing, cooking and serving barbecue food to help protect your guests from food poisoning.

Prevent cross-contamination

Barbecues are often the scene of cross-contamination. When raw meat juices mix with cooked or ready-to-eat food this can lead to food poisoning.

• Separate raw meat and poultry from cooked and ready-to-eat food.
• Use clean plates and utensils for cooked meat and ready-to-eat food.
• Don’t let raw meat juices drip onto other food.
• Never pour uncooked meat marinade on ready-to-eat food. Cook on the hotplate until sizzling or throw it away.

If you feel unwell and have symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, a sore throat with fever, fever, jaundice or an infectious skin condition, don’t handle food. Consider asking someone else to cook or postponing the barbecue.

Keep food at safe temperatures

Always keep raw meats cold and don't leave cooked foods and salads lying out in the sun for more than 2 hours.

If bacteria that can cause food poisoning are present, they can multiply quickly in warm to hot temperatures.

If meats cooked on the BBQ are to be eaten later, make sure they are kept cold for transport back home – and then put immediately into the refrigerator

Cook food thoroughly

Cook food such as sausages, hamburgers, rissoles and poultry thoroughly through to the middle.

A meat thermometer can remove the guess work. Correct temperatures for common barbecue foods:

• chicken & turkey (whole), thighs, wings, legs and breasts: 74°C
• minced meat, sausages: 71°C
• fish: 63°C.

Whole pieces of red meat, such as steak, can be cooked to taste.

For more information, see Poultry and meat safe handling.

Barbecue boo boos

Common mistakes during barbecues that can lead to food poisoning include:

• pouring a marinade with raw meat juices over cooked meat. Marinades need to be thoroughly cooked before serving
  splash or drip raw meat juices onto other foods such as salads and onto plates and cutlery
• not cooking meats such as sausages and hamburger mince thoroughly. No pink should be seen when the meat is cut, and as with chicken and pork, juices should be clear
• leaving food that's meant to be in the fridge out for more than 4 hours. It's best to leave things that should be in the fridge or esky - salads, cut fruit, meats, fresh juices – until just before cooking or serving. Make sure any leftovers are back in cold storage within 2 hours.