Food Safety Week, bringing it into the home
PUTTING THE THEORY INTO PRACTICE: FOOD SAFETY NEEDS TO GET ON THE HOME COOK'S AGENDA
Behavioural research released today by the Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF) shows food safety needs to get on the home cook's agenda, with a real need to improve food handling in the home. Cutting corners on food handling at home is putting many people at risk, despite most people knowing basic food safety rules.¹
"We conducted observational research to look at how people actually handle and cook chicken - rather than what they say they do. Although consumers mostly know how to handle chicken properly, alarmingly the understanding of 'why' is still missing, with actual behaviour falling far short of good practice," said Dr Andreas Dubs, Executive Director, ACMF
"Consumers need to be encouraged to routinely adopt food safety methods every time they are in the kitchen. Best practice occurred when people had deliberate methods in place, such as a chopping board system with different colours or size boards for different food items."
"Our research looked at areas such as how consumers store chicken, defrosting, hand washing and drying; risk of bacterial spread from raw meat, sponges and tea towels; cooking and how people judge when chicken is ready to eat.
"Even in areas where awareness was good, there are huge gaps in behaviour," Dr Dubs said.
Reference 1: Commissioned by The Australian Chicken Meat Federation and conducted by Sensory Solutions. Ten in home observational interviews were conducted with the main food preparer of the household. All participants cooked chicken on average at least twice a week and had a repertoire of chicken dishes. All meals had to include other ingredients and were accompanied by raw / salad ingredients. The participants were not aware that the focus was food safety. October 2006
Reference 2: FSANZ Newspoll Market Research conducted for Food Safety Week, December 2005.
Knowledge versus Behaviour
While research conducted by FSANZ² found that people universally understand that washing up with soap and drying both utensils and hands thoroughly is best practice - not just rinsing - the ACMF study showed consumers are not putting it into practice.
Most participants just rinsed the knife under the tap before using it on other food, and chopping boards and hands were just rinsed, not washed with warm soapy water.
Some participants didn't know that bacteria from raw meat may spread to other food, which can be a problem with food eaten raw, such as salads. Washing, not just rinsing, is key to reducing bacterial spread before and after handling raw meat.
Defrosting OBSERVED: Most participants said they leave frozen chicken on the kitchen bench to (partially) defrost - particularly in the cooler months.
BEST PRACTICE: Defrost frozen meat safely in the refrigerator to avoid bacteria multiplying. Microwave defrosting is also safe.
Cooking OBSERVED: Cooking times were often used to judge when chicken is ready to eat, but visual indicators are the most reliable. Consumers' knowledge of pre-prepared foods tends to be vague, with some believing chicken products such as nuggets are precooked, when they are only flash fried to stabilise the crumbing.
BEST PRACTICE: Chicken is cooked when: (1) it is no longer pink inside and (2) the juices run clear.
Cleaning / Wiping OBSERVED: Cleaning up spills of raw meat juices was commonly done with the general kitchen sponge, which was then rinsed under the tap, risking later bacterial spread from the sponge. A common unsuitable practice after rinsing hands is to wipe them dry on the kitchen tea towel - which may then be used to dry dishes, knives and boards.
BEST PRACTICE: Wash sponges, chopping boards, utensils and hands with warm soapy water to prevent bacterial spread.
Find Out More:
This most recent research has highlighted a lack of understanding about why certain food safety practices are essential. Poultry is a highly nutritious and popular food item and the chicken meat industry is committed to driving education on safe handling and supporting food safety awareness.
The Chook Infoline 1300 4 CHOOKs (1300 424 665) and the website on www.chicken.org.au are two convenient places where consumers can get answers to these and many other questions regarding chicken meat."
Participants interviewed:
Participants were chosen from a cross section of demographics. They were asked to prepare a chicken dish together with sidedishes of cooked and raw vegetables or salad. They assumed the observers were interested in their recipes and were unaware that it was their food storage, safety and handling that were being observed.
