For good food hygiene at home, effective cleaning removes bacteria on hands, equipment and surfaces, helping to stop harmful bacteria from spreading onto food.
Food safety in the kitchen
Knowing how to prepare and cook food helps keep the food you and your family eat safe. These simple tips will help make sure the food you cook and eat won’t do you any harm
In this section
Food safety isn't just about eating out, it's about keeping you and your family safe in the home too.
Chilling
Your fridge is a weapon in the battle against germs, but it must be used effectively. Find out what to do with your fridge to slow bacterial growth.
Cooking
You can avoid getting food poisoning by cooking your food carefully, following cooking instructions and cooking food for the correct length of time and temperature. Get more tips to ensure bacteria in food is killed.
Cross-contamination
Cross-contamination is the spread of bacteria around your kitchen, from food to surfaces and from surfaces to food. Here are some tips to avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen and keep you and your family safe.
Flooding
If your home has been flooded, it is important to prepare food correctly as flood water is not clean. Floodwater can also impact any home-grown fruit and vegetables grown in a garden or an allotment.
Food storage
Storing food safely helps to reduce food waste and keep you and your household safe from food poisoning. Also storing food correctly will help to reduce food waste and cut costs.
Power cuts
If you have a power cut in your home for longer than four hours, it's important that you make sure the food in your home is stored safely so that it's safe to eat. Find out what to do if that happens to you.
Reusable bags and containers
How to safely use shopping bags and reusable containers to help keep your food safe and avoid spreading bacteria.
Parties and events
Hosting a party or having an event? Get more specific food safety advice for things like parties and events to keep guests free from food poisoning.
Food safety at parties and events
Raw pet food
Following good food safety when preparing and handling raw pet food is important too.
Handling raw pet foodAre you guilty of a kitchen crime?
We often risk food poisoning without realising it, like undercooking food or ignoring use-by dates. We’ve identified 20 ways you can clean up your act and reduce the risk of illness in the home.
Find out if you're committing any of the 20 'kitchen crimes' with our quiz.
Latest news and alerts
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Alert
Lambertz recalls Lambertz Mini Spekulatius and Lambertz Christmas Tree Cookies because allergens are not declared in English on the label
Alert
Unilever recalls Pot Noodle Piri Piri Chicken Flavour because of undeclared milk
Alert
Allergy alert - Dunnet Bay Distillers recalls Rock Rose Gin Summer Cup Liqueur because of undeclared sulphites
Dunnet Bay Distillers is recalling Rock Rose Gin Summer Cup Liqueur because it contains sulphites which are not mentioned on the label
News
FSS and FSA publish latest package of guidance to support innovative food businesses
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Food Standards Agency have today published a new package of supplementary guidance for businesses developing cell-cultivated products, the latest milestone in the Cell-Cultivated Products (CCP) Sandbox Programme.