Meat preparation and cooking advice

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Preparation

Clean and disinfect the raw meat preparation area before you start. This area must be separate from any area in which cooked meat is handled. A detergent solution should be used to clean surfaces before they are disinfected. It is important to use the correct disinfectant for surfaces and equipment which will not adversely affect the food, and to use it at the appropriate concentration. For guidance on the use of disinfectants see point "Help available", below.
Wash your hands before and after handling the raw meat.

To cook meat safely so that E-Coli 0157, Salmonella and Listeria are killed, the centre of the meat must reach a core temperature of at least 70oC for 2 minutes or an equivalent temperature/time combination (see below), or until the juices run clean.
Make sure your cooking equipment can achieve this consistently.
The cooking process must be monitored. You should record the core temperature of at least one item from every cook, using a probe thermometer. Wash and disinfect the probe thermometer after each use. Remember to check the accuracy of the thermometer regularly.

The cooked product should be cooled as quickly as possible in order to prevent the growth of food poisoning bacteria, and then kept under refrigeration. Remember the smaller the joint of meat, the quicker it cools.

Clean and disinfect the cooked product handling area, which must be separate from any area in which raw products are handled.
Always wash your hands before handling cooked products. All equipment must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before and after use on cooked foods.
Never allow raw foods or any other products, used utensil or tool, or surface likely to cause contamination, to come into contact with cooked foods.

A member of our food safety team will be only too pleased to help you if you need any advice on the safe handling of foods, and disinfectants.

REMEMBER: FOOD POISONING FROM COOKED FOODS OFTEN OCCURS AS A RESULT OF CROSS CONTAMINATION FROM RAW FOODS.