People in Forth Valley will be able to attend a fridge clinic on Friday June 14th as part of a campaign by the Food Standards Agency to highlight kitchen horrors which have resulted in 81% of Scots admitting that one or more habits have put them at risk of food poisoning.

The Agency will be using Twitter where members of the public can send images of their fridge and receive tweet back suggestions and tips on how to store food more safely.

NHS Forth Valley Community Dietitian Pamela Murray said:

 People don’t believe that the food they cook in their own kitchens could make them ill. For example hand washing is very important and people should check ‘use-buy’ dates on food labels. Don’t be fooled even if a food smells and looks okay it could be unsafe to eat if it past its ‘use by’ date.

“Using up leftovers is a great way to make meals go further and save money but make sure you cook leftovers until they are steaming hot throughout and don’t heat leftovers more than once. Also don’t overload your fridge and store raw meats and poultry at the bottom, wrapped and covered to avoid raw juices dripping onto other foods.”

The ‘fridge clinic’ is part of Food Safety Week which runs from 10-16 June. A survey by the Food Standards Agency has revealed that 24% of people in Scotland would eat food that has been dropped on the floor, and 86% use the ‘sniff test’ to check whether food is safe to eat, a method which h is unreliable. However 91% believe they’ve never given family or friends food poisoning.

Bob Martin, food safety expert at the Food Standards Agency added:

 By not washing their hands before preparing food at home or ignoring ‘use by’ dates, people could be setting themselves, family and friends, up for a bout of really unpleasant illness.”

The Agency add that there are more than one million cases of food poisoning every year including 20,000 hospitalisations and 500 deaths.

For more information throughout Food Safety Week visit: www.food.gov.uk/facebook
or www.food.gov.uk/twitter or to take the Kitchen Check log onto: www.food.gov.uk/kitchen-check.