While many of us pay attention to what we eat, we may not pay much attention to how our food is stored and prepared. Taking care of the way we store and prepare our food can prevent food poisoning, and microbiological contamination of food. Microbiological organisms which can contaminate foods include viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Viruses such as the Rota virus, are more commonly affect children and may result from inadequately washing hands before handling food. Parasites such as Listeria (which is particularly dangerous for pregnant women) are not common, but are found in raw meat, raw vegetables, some cheeses and pates and processed foods. Another parasite, Giardia, is most commonly found in the water supply. Bacteria grow on some types of food more easily than others.

The most common foods on which bacteria grow are referred to as High Risk Food and include: meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, smallgoods, and seafood. The most common food poisoning bacteria include:

Staphylococcus aureus (found in meat and poultry dishes, egg products, mayonnaise-based salads, cream or custard-filled desserts).

It is suggested that 20 per cent of food poisoning in Australia results from food mishandling in the home and outdoors. Symptoms of food poisoning can vary widely. The most common symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, stomach cramps or just a queasy feeling in the stomach. The best ways to avoid food poisoning include:

Storing raw food below cooked food in the refrigerator so that raw food cannot drip on cooked food and cause cross contamination,

Storing food correctly (particularly keeping food out of the Temperature Danger Zone between 5oC and 60oC),

Making sure food is served as soon as possible after preparing, cooking food thoroughly. Cooking food to a temperature of at least 70oC will kill bacteria that may contaminate food.

Refrigerating food is an easy way to prevent food deterioration. The coldest part of your fridge should be kept between 0-5oC. Store the most perishable foods in this part of the fridge such as fresh vegetables or fish. Meat should always be stored in the bottom drawer of the fridge (which avoids meat dripping onto other foods!).

When cooking and heating food, make sure all foods, in particular meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products are cooked until their core temperature reaches 70oC which will kill most bacteria. Food taken out of the oven should not be left out for more than an hour and food should be refrigerated or frozen as soon as it has cooled.

Food that has been thawed should never be refrozen as bacteria multiply when food is being thawed. If this food is then refrozen, the bacteria do not die and are still present when the food is thawed again. Food should be placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator when thawing to ensure that it remains cold while thawing and does not contaminate other food. If you are using a microwave to thaw food, it must be cooked immediately afterwards.

The best way to avoid food poisoning is to follow the guidelines above and aim to either keep foods steaming hot, or refrigerated to stop the growth of bacteria. Another safety measure to to always follow the 'use-by' or 'best before' date on the packet.