8
• Keep the time etween uying chilled food and
placing it in your fridge as short as possi le. Tests
showed that the temperature of 1 litre of orange
juice rose to 22°C in an hour etween the
supermarket and home. It then took 11 hours to
get down to 7°C in the refrigerator.
• Keep the refrigerator door closed as much as
possi le.
• Do not push food together too much, try to allow
air to circulate around each item.
• Cool cooked food as quickly as possi le ut do
NOT place in the refrigerator until cool. (Leave
food in a cool place in order that it can then e
put in the refrigerator as soon as possi le).
• Do NOT mix raw and cooked meat, they must e
in separate containers. Take care not to let the
meat juices drip onto other food. If the meat does
drip, remove everything and clean thoroughly.
• Do not store food uncovered.
• The est way to defrost food is to put it in the
refrigerator to thaw slowly.
• Remove suspect food from your refrigerator and
clean (refer to “Maintenance and Cleaning).
• Never allow spillages to dry and harden.
• Ensure that food placed in the freezer is dated
and la elled and used in date order to ensure
that food is consumed at its est.
• It is important that food is used efore its “ est
efore” date.
• Store eggs in the egg rack provided in the
refrigerator door. Discard any roken or chipped
eggs.
• Regularly check the refrigerator door seal to
ensure that it is clean and free from de ris.
• Always wash your hands with soapy water and
dry them with a clean towel efore handling food.
• Keep work surfaces clean and avoid cross
contamination y not using the same work
surface or knife, without washing them thoroughly
in etween.
• The fresh foods to e frozen must e fresh and of
the est quality.
• The size of each pack should e small enough to
ensure that it is used in one go . Small packs
freeze more quickly and uniformly and give etter
results.
• Frozen food, once thawed, must not e refrozen.
Lean food keeps etter and longer than fatty food,
salt reduces the storage time.
• Wrap the food in polythene or aluminium freezing
ags or foil so that they adhere to the food and
provide an airtight seal .
• Packaging which is swollen or has traces of
refrozen water droplets on the pack could indicate
that the product has not een kept at a suita le
temperature and that it may have lost its original
quality. Partially thawed food must not e
refrozen, it must e consumed within 24 hours.
Never exceed the storage times indicated.
• Never place hot food, ottles or cans of fizzy drink
in the freezer as they may explode. Containers
with a lid must not e filled to the rim.
• Do not open the door or place extra fresh food in
the freezer next to food which is already frozen as
this could cause the temperature of the frozen
food to rise and its quality and storage life to
reduce .
• The sym ols on the drawers show different types
of frozen goods.
The num ers indicate storage times in months for
the appropriate types of frozen goods. Whether
the upper or lower value of the indicated storage
time is valid depends on the quality of the foods
and pre-treating efore freezing.
HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDELINES
Because o consumer demand, preservatives have been removed rom many pre-prepared oods. This
together with the changes in shopping habits to a once-a-week shop, mean that sa e handling and
storage o ood is even more important than ever.
The ollowing tips should help you to ensure that the ood in your home is in as per ect condition as
possible.