is your fridge cold enough

Is Your Fridge Cold Enough?

Certain foods require chilled storage conditions to maintain quality and prevent the growth of micro-organisms. Correct storage of food at the right temperature reduces the risk of food poisoning.  Is your fridge cold enough at the correct temperature? Temperature control is important because harmful bacteria are a hazard present in many foods. Given the right conditions, food poisoning bugs such as listeria can multiply quickly. Did you know that at ideal temperatures some food poisoning bugs can multiply every 10 minutes? The Food Standards Agency states that growth models have shown listeria grows nearly twice as fast at 8°C as it does at 5°C, hence the recommended 5ºC, which helps keep us safe from listeria. As bacteria are invisible to the naked eye and cannot be physically removed from food, all we can do is control their numbers. Temperature can … Read more

BBQ-Week

BBQ Week – Keep safe!

Keep safe this BBQ Week! It’s BBQ Week! With summer just around the corner, you may well be thinking about spending sunny evenings with friends and family, enjoying a lovely BBQ. Everyone wants to give their friends and family some fun and a tasty evening NOT a few days of diarrhea or sickness resulting from food poisoning.   So to help create a memorable occasion for all the right reasons we have some easy steps you can follow: Pre-Cook your meat in the oven and then finish off on your barbecue for flavour If you are choosing to ONLY cook on the barbecue, the two main risk factors are: Undercooked meal Spreading germs from raw meat on to food that is ready to eat When cooking most meats (chicken, turkey, pork, burger or sausages) The coals are glowing red with a powdery grey … Read more

Food Safety Guidelines from Sentencing Council

Sentencing Council Introduces Guidelines for Food Safety Offences

As of Feb. 1, 2016, the Sentencing Council has introduced new guidelines for food safety offences – in addition to health and safety offences and corporate manslaughter. The guidelines have been developed with the intention of providing comprehensive sentencing guidance for judges and magistrates in England and Wales charged with sentencing for the most common food safety offences. With the implementation the new guidelines, “fines for offences [will be] fair and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the means of offenders.” To accomplish this, sentences vary to “reflect the very different levels of risk of harm that can result from offences.” Because food safety offences can result in a wide range of consequences – from minor illness to hospitalization or even death – it is vital that kitchens implement proper food safety standards. Comark’s temperature monitoring solutions aid … Read more