Keeping Christmas left-overs safe

Christmas is a time for enjoying good food with family and friends. It’s also a time when leftovers from lunches and dinners can fill the fridge.

To avoid illness and limit food waste, follow our simple steps to help keep your leftover food safe to eat.

• Keep cooked food piping hot – more than 60°C – prior to serving
• Avoid leaving cooked food at room temperature for more than 2 hours
• Keep your fridge at or below 5°C
• Reheat foods until they are piping hot – at least 75°C
• Eat leftovers within 3-4 days (or within 1 day for vulnerable people).

It is also important to remember that food containing microorganisms that can cause illness will not always smell, taste or appear different to safe food.

Because of this, the ‘sniff test’ is not a reliable way to check food is OK to eat.

The best way to reduce the risk of food poisoning is to cook, serve and store food safely.