Raw and risky foods

Simple tips

You can reduce your raw food risk by following these simple tips.

• Don’t use cracked eggs in raw egg dishes such as egg nog, uncooked desserts such as mousses and tiramisu, ollandaise sauces, fresh mayonnaise, aioli, health shakes with added raw egg or steak tartar. Either discard the cracked eggs or save them for a dish like a cake that will be thoroughly cooked. Prepare any raw egg dish as close as possible to consuming and refrigerate at or below 5⁰C

• Don’t wash eggs from your backyard chooks as it spreads bacteria around your kitchen. Use a paper towel or brush to remove as much visible dirt as possible and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Once again it’s best not to use them in raw egg dishes.
• Don’t eat under-cooked dishes including minced meat, such as in hamburgers and sausages, liver (including liver paté), stuffed or rolled roasts or poultry. Cook these foods all the way through to 75⁰C to kill any bacteria inside.
• Don’t drink unpasteurised milk as it will be contaminated with bacteria (and raw cow’s milk is illegal to sell). If you have your own goat or cow you can pasteurize your own milk by heating it to 75⁰C in a double boiler for two minutes continuously stirring, then cool and refrigerate in a clean container.
• Don’t let juices from raw meat or poultry contaminate other foods that won’t be cooked like salads or desserts. Use separate chopping boards for raw meat and salad veggies, cover raw meat and poultry in the fridge.