Barbeque safety tips

Food poisoning is usually mild, and most people get better within a week, but it can be more severe, so it’s important to take the risks seriously. Children, older people, and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable.

The safest option is to cook food indoors using your oven. You can then put the cooked food outside on the barbecue for flavour. This can be an easier option if you're cooking for a lot of people at the same time.

If cooking only on the barbecue, the two main risk factors are undercooked meat, and spreading bacteria from raw meat onto food that’s ready to eat.

Raw or undercooked meat can contain bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella, E.coli and campylobacter. However, these bacteria can be killed by cooking meat until it is piping hot throughout.

When you’re cooking any kind of meat on a barbecue, make sure:

• the coals are glowing red with a powdery grey surface before you start cooking, as this means that they are hot enough
• frozen meat is properly thawed before you cook it
• you turn the meat regularly, and move it around the barbecue to cook it evenly

Meat is safe to eat only when it is piping hot in the centre, there is no pink meat visible, and any juices are clear - don’t assume that because meat is charred on the outside it will be cooked properly on the inside. Cut the meat at the thickest part and ensure none of it is pink on the inside.

Some meat, such as steaks and joints of beef or lamb, can be served rare (not cooked in the middle) as long as the outside has been properly cooked. This will kill any bacteria that might be on the outside of the meat. However, food made from minced meat, such as sausages and burgers, must be cooked thoroughly all the way through.

Cross contamination

Bacteria from raw meat can move easily onto your hands and then onto anything else you touch, including food that is cooked and ready to eat. This is called cross-contamination.

Cross-contamination can happen if raw meat touches anything (including plates, cutlery, tongs and chopping boards) that then comes into contact with other food.

Follow these steps to help prevent cross-contamination:

• always wash your hands after touching raw meat
• use separate utensils (plates, tongs, containers) for cooked and raw meat
• never put cooked food on a plate or surface that has had raw meat on it
• keep raw meat in a sealed container away from foods that are ready to eat, such as salads and buns
• don’t put raw meat next to cooked or partly cooked meat on the barbecue
• don’t put sauce or marinade on cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat

It’s also important to keep some foods cool to prevent food-poisoning bacteria multiplying.

Keep the following foods cool:

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

Don’t leave food out of the fridge for more than a couple of hours, and don’t leave food in the sun.

Make sure your barbecue is steady on a level surface, away from plants and trees.

The Fire Service advises overing the bottom of your barbecue with coal to a depth of no more than 5cm (2in). Use only recognised firelighters or starter fuel, and then only on cold coals.

Never use petrol on a barbecue.