Maidenhead & Windsor

While the heat's on Maidenhead, make sure you keep your cool when preparing food for barbecues and picnics and avoid any "unwanted guests" at the feast!

That's the seasonal advice from Maidenhead Royal Borough environmental health officers as the summer entertaining season gathers pace and families move to the great outdoors for meals al fresco – and they've come up with a menu of food safety tips to help keep bugs such as E.coli, salmonella and campylobacter firmly at bay.

Before firing up the barbecue:
· plan ahead by preparing food in advance to help to reduce the pressure
· always wash your hands thoroughly before preparing food, after touching raw meat and before eating
· keep foods out of the fridge for the shortest time possible.If you're short of space in the fridge put wine and beer somewhere cold, such as the garage, or in buckets of ice
· raw meat should be separated from cooked and ready-to-eat food (including salad or burger buns
· use separate utensils for raw and cooked meat and don't put cooked and raw food on the same plate
· don't add sauce or marinade to cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat
· make sure that food is fully cooked and safe to eat by checking that it's piping hot all the way through, that none of the meat is pink and any juices run clear
· when catering for a large group, you can cook meat indoors and finish it off on the barbecue for added flavour.

When having a picnic:
· keep food in the fridge until the last minute and use a cool bag to keep it chilled until you're ready to eat – particularly food containing cream, such as trifle, cream cakes and desserts, meat and poultry.

· remember to wash fruit and salad vegetables thoroughly before you set off and use antiseptic hand wipes if you can't wash your hands
· keep food covered whenever possible to protect it from insects, birds and pets, which can carry bacteria.

For further advice or information on food safety see the Food Standards Agency Website at www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe/ or contact Maidenhead Royal Borough's Commercial Services Team on 01628 683820

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead