As Christmas gets underway amid a heatwave, NSW Health is warning people to avoid Salmonella food poisoning, with 168 cases already reported this month.
Ms Keira Glasgow, NSW Health Manager of Enteric and Zoonotic Diseases,said careful food preparation and storage is the best way to avoidsalmonellosis.
"Over every Christmas break we see outbreaks of Salmonella food poisoning, which are usually due to food not beingprepared and stored properly," Ms Glasgow said.
"The mostcommon causes of salmonellosis outbreaks are eating food containing raw or undercooked eggs and not carefullyseparating raw food from cooked food.
"The longer food is left out of the fridge, the more bacteria willmultiply. If food that is normally refrigerated has been sitting out for overtwo hours, you should throw it out."
Helpful food safety tips include:
- Use different chopping boards, trays, utensils and plates whenpreparing raw foods, especially meat, and ready to eat food
- Thaw frozen food in the fridge, not on the bench as Salmonella bacteria love to grow betweenthe temperatures of five and 60 degrees Celsius
- Wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating
- Don't pour raw meat juices from marinades onto cooked food
- Wash hands immediately after handling raw foods and before handlingcooked or ready-to-eat food
- Don't prepare food for others if you've had symptoms of gastroenteritisuntil 48 hours after symptoms have passed.
NSW FoodAuthority CEO, Dr Lisa Szabo, said to reduce the risk of Salmonella poisoning, consumers and food retailers can usecommercially produced products instead of handmade mayonnaise and sauces.
"It is also much safer to use commercially pasteurised eggs rather thanraw eggs in ready-to-eat products such as desserts and dressings," Dr Szabosaid.
"Businesses in NSW must complywith strict requirements around the use of raw eggs in foods, and the sale ofeggs with dirty or cracked shells is prohibited."
Symptoms of salmonellosis include fever, headache, diarrhoea, abdominal pain,nausea and vomiting and usually last for four to seven days.
"Most peoplerecover from salmonellosis by resting and drinking fluids but some peopleincluding infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems candevelop a severe infection," Ms Glasgow said.
For further information click on the NSW Health Salmonellosis fact sheet.
