Bugs like it hot!

Sunbathers aren’t the only ones who enjoy rising temperatures. Food-poisoning bugs also like it hot. Just ten invisible bugs in your food can multiply to 1,000 in six hours, 100,000 in nine and a half hours and more than a million in twelve hours. And when it’s very hot, bugs can multiply even faster.

So on summer days it’s more important than ever to keep your food cool and safe!

Keeping it cool

• Put food shopping in the fridge as soon as you get it home.
• Make sure the coldest part of your fridge is at 5˚C or below.
• If you're having a buffet, leave food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible – no more than a couple of hours.
• If you’re taking food for a picnic or day out, put it in a cool bag with some ice bricks or frozen juice cartons.
• Don’t leave food in the sun.

Do you know which types of food need to be kept cool?

Food you have cooked or prepared, or food with a ‘use by’ date, such as:

• salads
• dips
• milk, cream and yoghurt
• desserts and cream cakes
• sandwiches
• ham and other cooked meats
• cooked rice