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People should observe food and personal hygiene when enjoying hotpot which is a popular cuisine when the weather turns cold.
A spokesman for the Centre for Food Safety today (November 12) advised people to take heed of the Five Keys to Food Safety in buying and cooking ingredients in order to prevent food-borne illness.
"As there are a wide range of hotpot ingredients and most of them are raw foods, we may get sick from eating foods that are contaminated by dangerous micro-organisms if they are handled improperly or undercooked. To reduce the risk of contracting food-borne diseases, food should be cooked thoroughly," he said.
The Five Keys to Food Safety, or "3Cs, 2Ss", are as follows:
Choose
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* Patronise reliable and hygienic shops for hotpot ingredients and select more fresh foods.
* For prepackaged foods, check whether the packaging is intact and pay attention to the expiry date on the food label.
Clean
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* Observe good personal and food hygiene when preparing foods. Wash hands thoroughly after handling raw foods and before handling cooked foods to avoid cross-contamination.
* Before handling food ingredients and eating, wash hands with running water and soap thoroughly for 20 seconds and dry them off.
* If there is a wound on the hand, cover it properly with a waterproof bandage or wear a glove before handling food.
Separate
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* Avoid contact between raw and cooked foods to prevent cross-contamination.
* Use separate sets of chopsticks and utensils with different appearances to handle raw and cooked foods.
Cook thoroughly
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* Take thoroughly cooked food out of the pot only when the soup is boiling completely. Whenever water or soup is added to the pot, wait until it is boiling hot before adding food for cooking.
* Food should be thoroughly cooked before consumption. Do not eat shrimps that are cooked lightly. They should be fully cooked until the shells turn red and the flesh turns white and unclear.
* Raw eggs are often on offer as a hotpot ingredient. Eggs with cracked shells should be discarded immediately.
* Do not consume cooked foods that are mixed with raw eggs as dangerous micro-organisms may be present in raw eggs.
Safe temperature
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* Most hotpot ingredients should be stored in a fridge at 4 degree Celsius or below, while frozen foods should be stored in a freezer at -18 degree Celsius or below.
* Do not thaw frozen foods at room temperature as bacteria may multiply rapidly in food. It is preferable to defrost frozen foods in a fridge or microwave.
"People should maintain a balanced diet and avoid excessive intake of food. Vegetables with high dietary fibre content can be a healthy choice. They should read the nutrition labels on hotpot items and make healthier food choices by choosing food lower in fat, sugars and sodium content," the spokesman added.
People may browse the CFS website (www.cfs.gov.hk) for more food safety tips.
Ends/Thursday, November 12, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:20
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