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You shouldn't use any food after the end of the 'use by' date shown on the label. Even if it looks and smells fine, using it after this date could put your health at risk and cause food poisoning. It's also important to follow any storage instructions given on food labels, otherwise the food might not last until the 'use by' date. You should make sure you keep chilled foods in the fridge, and put them back in the fridge as quickly as possible after use. Some foods, such as bacon and smoked fish, are are vacuum packed. This means they're put in packets that have the air removed so that the food lasts longer. Other foods, such as bags of salad, might have the air in the packet replaced with other gases after packing, this is called 'modified atmosphere' packing. Vacuum packing and modified atmosphere packing take the air out of the packaging and stop any bacteria from growing, this makes chilled foods last longer. But some types of bacteria, including Clostridium botulinum, can grow without air. This type of bacteria can produce a very harmful toxin that causes severe food poisoning, so it's important that controls are in place to stop it growing. To keep them safe, most vacuum and modified atmosphere packed chilled foods have a 'use by' date of ten days from the date they were made. But this might be longer if the manufacturer uses other methods to stop bacteria growing. After vacuum and modified atmosphere packed chilled foods have been opened, you should keep them in the fridge and eat them within the time stated on the label, for example 'consume within two days'.
If you vacuum pack food at home, you should use it within ten days. And to make sure the food stays safe, leave the packet sealed and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. After you've opened the packet, treat it like other chilled foods, so make sure you continue to store it in the fridge and use it within two days. Your vacuum packing machine is designed to make your chilled foods last longer by taking the air out of the packaging and then making an airtight seal around the food. Because there is no air in the packet, most bacteria stop growing, which helps keep your food fresher for longer. However, some types of bacteria can still grow without any air – Clostridium botulinum is one of these. Clostridium botulinum produces a very harmful toxin that causes severe food poisoning. So, to stay well, make sure you keep your vacuum packed food in the fridge and use it within ten days. And remember, if you open any vacuum packed food (perhaps to use some of it) and then vacuum pack it again, you still need to use the food within ten days of when you first sealed it.
It’s important to clean your vacuum packing machine thoroughly each time you use it. This is especially important if you’re packing food that is ready to eat after packing raw meat. Harmful bacteria can spread easily from raw meat onto ready-to-eat food making it unsafe to eat. It’s also best to keep raw meat covered so it can’t touch or drip on foods that are ready to eat. And remember not to use the same chopping board or knife for both raw and cooked foods without washing them, and your hands, thoroughly in between. This is because this can also transfer harmful bacteria to cooked food making it unsafe. If you’re not sure how to clean your machine safely, try contacting the manufacturer. Or you might find guidance for your particular machine on the Internet. If you can’t contact the manufacturer, or they can’t help you, here is some general advice:
Plastic baby bottles and other types of plastic food container are safe to use if they are used correctly. You should always follow the manufacturer's instructions, but, generally, plastic bottles and containers are safe to use and reuse if they're not damaged and can be cleaned properly. Also, you can heat food in plastic containers in hot water or the microwave if the label says it is OK to do so. Cans should not be reused. Once a can has been opened, any leftover food should be put in a sealable container in the fridge. One chemical you may have heard of, in relation to baby bottles, is a substance called Bisphenol-A (BPA). It's used to make a range of plastic food containers, including baby bottles. It's also found in the resin used to coat the inside of food cans, to stop the metal contaminating the food. Very small amounts of BPA can transfer from the packaging into food and drinks. It's possible that BPA might affect the hormone system in people's bodies. That said, there has been a lot of research carried out worldwide and there is still no conclusive evidence that these chemicals do have this effect in people. Independent experts have calculated how much BPA can be eaten every day over a lifetime without it causing harm to our health. It has been estimated that the amounts we take in from food and drink are much lower than this level. There are also rules in place to protect the public. These rules set a maximum level of BPA that is allowed to transfer into food.
If you have a power cut, don’t open the freezer door – this helps food stay frozen for longer. When the power comes back on, check the food inside. If the food is still hard and icy, you can leave it in the freezer. Turn the freezer to its maximum setting for 24 hours, before putting it back on a setting that keeps it at -18°C. If the food has started to defrost, you may need to throw it away, depending on the type of food. Throw away any food that you would eat frozen, for example ice cream, if it has started to defrost. Do not refreeze these foods. If meat and fish, or foods containing these, have started to get soft, throw these away too. Watch out for liquid coming out of defrosting raw meat because this could spread bacteria to other foods. Bread and frozen vegetables can be refrozen, as long as they have not been touched by raw meat or liquid coming out of it.
You shouldn’t defrost raw meat and then refreeze it, unless you have cooked it first. So if you defrosted some raw meat and then cooked it, for example in a stew or a lasagne, then it would be OK to freeze the cooked dish. But make sure that you defrost the dish thoroughly and reheat it until it is steaming hot all the way through.
This depends on the type of food and also on your freezer. It’s a good idea to check any instructions on food labels, or in the handbook for your freezer, on how long food should be frozen. In theory, food could be safe to eat after years in the freezer, as long as it has stayed frozen during that time. But it may not be very nice to eat, because the taste and texture of food changes if it is frozen for too long.
Plastic bottles are generally designed and tested so they can be used safely for their intended purpose. This means that if you want to reuse a plastic bottle, you should check that it's OK to do so by following any specific instructions given on the bottle. Or you could check with the manufacturer or supplier direct. But, in general, if the condition of the bottle hasn't deteriorated and the bottle can be cleaned properly, it should be safe to refill it with water. You should wash drinks bottles thoroughly with hot soapy water, to stop any harmful germs growing. Bottles with cracks or dents in them mean they are harder to clean and remove germs. If you're in any doubt, however, it's probably best not to reuse it.
It's not a good idea to store any food or drink, including plastic bottles of water, next to chemicals. This is because it's possible that some airborne chemicals may be able to pass through the bottle or packaging from the surrounding air and get into the food or drink. This can happen even if the bottle or packaging isn't touching the container for the chemical. You should be careful to keep all types of food and drink away from any household chemicals, such as cleaning products and bleach, or mothballs. Sometimes people keep packaged food or drinks in a cellar, garage or in a cupboard under the stairs or sink. If you do this, remember not to put them next to chemicals that might also be stored in that place.
Lots of different types of flavoured oil are available in the shops, containing garlic, peppercorns, chilli and various herbs including rosemary, oregano and bay leaves, and these often have a long shelf life. But it's not a good idea to make flavoured oils at home unless you are going to use them immediately. This is because plants, including herbs and spices, can carry spores produced by bacteria. Occasionally, they could carry spores of a type of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism. This is a very unpleasant disease, which is rare in the UK, but can be fatal. Clostridium botulinum multiplies in places without any oxygen, so if there are spores on plants such as herbs and garlic, putting them in oil can create the right conditions for the bacteria to multiply, particularly if the herbs are fresh or wet. Companies that produce flavoured oils and foods preserved in oil are expected to take Clostridium botulinum into account and formulate their products to make sure that this type of bacteria doesn't multiply. Even though recipes for flavoured oils can be found in cookery books, magazines and websites, these might not have considered the risk of botulism. So if you would like to make your own flavoured oil, the safest option is to make a small quantity and use it on the day you have made it. If you have some oil left over, put it in the fridge straight away and use it within a week. Some oils can go cloudy or become solid in the fridge, but if this happens don't be tempted to leave it at room temperature, because this might not be safe.
Lots of people think they should wash raw chicken, but there's no need. Any germs on it will be killed if you cook it thoroughly. In fact, if you do wash chicken, you could splash germs onto the sink, worktop, dishes, or anything else nearby.
If you cook pulses and you aren't going to eat them immediately, cool them as quickly as possible and then refrigerate or freeze them. You shouldn't leave out pulses (or other cooked foods) at room temperature because this could allow bacteria to grow and multiply. If you keep cooked pulses in the fridge, eat them within two days. If you freeze them, it should be safe to keep them for a long time, providing they stay frozen. However, keeping food frozen for too long can affect its taste and texture, so it's a good idea to follow the freezer manufacturer's instructions about how long to store certain foods.
If the eggs you use are raw or partially cooked, they might contain salmonella bacteria, which can cause food poisoning. Freezing doesn't kill the bacteria, so it's possible that the ice cream could make certain people ill. Ice cream containing raw egg should not be served to anyone who might be more at risk from salmonella, such as older people, babies, toddlers, pregnant women or people who are ill. You could choose a recipe without egg, or try using pasteurised egg because effective pasteurisation kills bacteria. You also need to be careful not to keep ice cream out of the freezer for too long when you serve it. Always put it straight back. If it's left out at room temperature, food poisoning bacteria, such as staphylococci, might grow in the ice cream. From a safety point of view, you can keep the ice cream in the freezer for as long as you like, if it remains frozen. But you might find that the texture gradually deteriorates if you keep it for a long time. Remember, it's best to wash fruit thoroughly in cold tap water, to get rid of any visible dirt. Washing is more important when the fruit is not going to be cooked.
The Agency doesn't advise people to use chopping boards made of a particular material. This is because we don't know of any conclusive evidence to say whether plastic or wooden chopping boards are safer for general domestic use when people follow basic hygiene procedures. Whatever type of chopping board you use, you should:
It should be safe to freeze milk, providing you do the following things:
When bacteria grow on food they sometimes produce gases, which can make packaging swell. This is the most likely explanation of what happened to your pack of sausages. Because the sausages were going to be cooked, these bacteria might not have made you ill. But throwing away the food was the safest option. Raw sausages often carry bacteria and the most likely cause of the pack's swelling is that it got warm, which would have allowed the bacteria to multiply and start releasing gases. This could happen if the sausages were out of the fridge for a while, for example, when you were bringing the shopping home. You should always try to put food in the fridge as quickly as possible, especially in warm weather, and avoid leaving food in a warm car boot. Food might also get too warm if your fridge isn't cool enough. Using a fridge thermometer, check that the coldest part of your fridge is between 0°C and 5°C (32°F and 41°F). If your fridge has an internal freezer compartment that is iced up, this could mean that the fridge will struggle to maintain its temperature.
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