Margaret Prouse of The Gaurdian today published an article about food safety:

"Preventing foodborne illness, or food poisoning, is just as important as preventing injury from accidents or fire. Those who are young, old, pregnant or have impaired immune systems are most at risk, but no one wants to get food poisoning.

There are many things that can be done to keep foods safe in the home.

Handwashing is the practice that can make the most difference. Wash your hands before and after handling food or eating, and after blowing your nose, using the bathroom, changing a diaper or touching a pet. Wash them with soap and water, rubbing the top and palm of the hand and between the fingers, rinse and dry thoroughly. There are germs everywhere, and washing hands does a lot to prevent them from contaminating foods or being ingested.

Special care is needed when handling meat, fish and poultry. The four key things to remember are chill, clean, separate and cook."