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Surprise Mum with a fabulous breakfast – not a foodborne illness – this Mother’s Day

6 May 2009

Surprising Mum with breakfast in bed is a favourite low-cost way to celebrate Mother’s Day. It’s also a great opportunity for Dads and other caregivers to teach children simple food safety lessons while helping them prepare the meal.

“Using dirty hands to prepare a meal, cross-contaminating from raw foods or a dirty kitchen, undercooking food, and leaving perishable food sitting out too long at room temperature are some of the main causes of foodborne illness,” says New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) microbiologist Roger Cook.

“It’s important for children to learn and practice safe food handling techniques so Mum – and anybody else they cook for – doesn’t end up developing a foodborne illness.”

NZFSA encourages both children and adults to follow the 4C’s rule – Clean, Cook, Cover, Chill – and be food-safe on Mother's Day and every day.

Good hygiene starts with clean hands. Cooks of every age should wash their hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds and dry with a clean towel before and after food preparation. It is also vital to wash them after playing with pets, blowing your nose and using the toilet.

Unclean chopping boards and utensils are a common way of transmitting bacteria. Wash utensils and scrub chopping boards between tasks – especially between preparing raw and ready-to-eat foods.

Ensure your breakfast sausage or bacon is cooked all the way through. If using a microwave oven, stir, cover, and rotate food for even cooking and let it stand for a few minutes afterwards. Always cook eggs before eating them and remember cooked egg whites should be firm, not runny.

If you’re making pancakes, don’t be tempted to eat the batter as it exposes you to raw ingredients that could contain harmful bacteria. Cooking will kill any bacteria and make the pancakes safe to eat.

Finally, any leftovers from Mum's special meal should be quickly cooled, covered and refrigerated as soon as possible, then eaten within two days. Reheat leftovers until they are steaming hot.

For more information on food safety see the consumer section of NZFSA’s website www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/ and the Foodsafe Partnership website www.foodsafe.org.nz

Ends

For comment: Roger Cook, Principal Adviser (Microbiology), 029 894 2523

For information: Mandy Smith, Advisor (Media Communications), 029 894 2528