Kids in the kitchen

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Overview

It’s easy to forget that food can have invisible germs, called bacteria, that can make us sick. You can’t see, taste or smell bacteria. They can be hiding just about anywhere: in your kitchen, on your plate and even on your hands!  

You can keep those germs away by following a few simple steps when you’re in the kitchen.  

Keep it clean  

Keeping yourself and your surroundings ✨ clean will help keep get rid of those bad bacteria.

First, you need to wash your hands before eating or preparing food - every time.

Wear a clean apron when cooking to protect your clothes and your food. Tie back long hair, if you have it. No one likes hair in their food – yuck!

Make sure your bench is clean and tidy and that equipment, like chopping boards and knives, as well as plates and cutlery are clean and dry too.

Check the label

🤔 Do you know the difference between a ‘use by date’ and a ‘best before date’?

  • You must eat food on or before a use by date. Food is not safe to eat past this date. Even if it looks fine, it might have too many bacteria that could make you sick. Use by dates are about safety.
  • As long as it doesn’t look or smell bad, food past a best before date is safe to eat - it just might not have the same taste or texture that it used to. Best before dates are about food quality.

☝️ Don’t forget to follow important instructions on food labels too, like how a food should be stored or cooked.

Let’s get cooking

🍓 🥬 Fruits and vegetables can sometimes have germs on them from when they were grown or displayed at the shop. Give them a wash under running water just before eating, cutting, or cooking.  

🥩🥚 Raw meat, seafood, chicken and turkey provide the perfect conditions for bacteria to thrive. Raw eggs too! Not handling or cooking these foods correctly is a common reason people get sick.  

☝️ Food fact: Bacteria from raw meat can spread very easily to other places in the kitchen if you don’t wash your hands properly or keep surfaces and equipment clean.

🧠 Be smart: keep foods apart

  • Chop vegetables before meat and use a different cutting board and knife for each. (If you're using a knife, make sure you have an adult's permission.)
  • Never let raw meat or raw egg touch other foods, especially cooked foods, or foods that you eat uncooked, like salad vegetables.
  • Wash your hands and all equipment well after touching raw meat or eggs.
  • Store raw meat well away from other foods in the fridge on the bottom shelf. It’s a good idea to cover it to make sure it won’t drip on or contaminate anything else in the fridge.

🛑 STOP! Hands check.

If you touch raw meat, chicken or eggs, or go to the toilet, sneeze, cough, touch your mouth, blow your nose, or pat your dog, cat or pet lizard, you need to wash and dry your hands 👏 again.  

Too hot to handle

Cooking food properly destroys💥harmful bacteria. Different meats need to be cooked to different temperatures to kill them dead ☠️.  

If you’re cooking meats, follow the guide on our Cooking temperatures page to make sure your food is cooked properly.

☝️ Food fact: Eating uncooked cake batter containing raw eggs could make you sick 🤢. We know, we know, we’re no fun – but trust us, food poisoning is definitely even less fun. Waiting until your tasty treat is cooked and cooled before tucking in is the safest way to go.

Keeping it cool

❄️Keeping cold foods cold is one of the most important rules in preventing sickness from food.

This is because food poisoning bacteria, which live on some foods, don’t much like being cold. In a fridge at 4°C their systems slow right down – it’s a bit like sending them to sleep. 💤

But if you take them out of the fridge and put them in what we call the temperature danger zone, between 5°C and 60°C, it’s time for bacteria to party 🎉. Bacteria grow quickly in this zone, and the more they grow, the harder it is for your body to fight 💪 them off.

Some foods that need to stay cold to stay safe include:

  • meats, including sandwich meats like ham
  • dairy products like milk, cheese, custard and yoghurt
  • sandwiches or salads made with meat
  • peeled or cut fruits and vegetables
  • eggs
  • cooked rice and pasta.  

It is important to 👇:

  • put any food that needs to be kept cold in the fridge straight away
  • close the fridge door quickly after taking out food or putting it back in
  • check your fridge temperature – it should be below 5°C
  • don’t eat food that’s meant to be in the fridge if it’s been left out for over 4 hours.

🧳 If you leave home with food, use a cooler bag and ice-brick to keep it cool.

Recap

  • Some foods have invisible germs, called bacteria, which can you make you sick if you eat them.
  • These germs can be spread easily. Keeping yourself and your surroundings clean helps stop the spread.
  • Some foods need to be kept cold to stay safe to eat and some need to be cooked to the correct temperature.
  • Following cooking and storage directions on food labels, and eating food on or before a use by date, is important is to ensure you don't get sick from food. 

Activities and resources

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