Cooking food

Food poisoning isn’t just something you get outside your home – the meals you prepare can be a source of food poisoning too

Person in a kitchen adding spaghetti from a pink pan into a pot, wearing a blue and white checkered apron. Ingredients and kitchenware are visible on the counter.

You can avoid getting food poisoning by cooking your food carefully, following cooking instructions and cooking food for the correct length of time and reaching a safe cooking temperature. This ensures that any harmful bacteria in the food are killed.

Here’s some tips to ensure you’re not nibbling on any nasties:

a food thermometer can be used to check food is cooked thoroughly. When inserted in the thickest part of the food, the thermometer should read 75°C or above. Some foods change colour when they are cooked so you can check this too.
always check your food is steaming hot in the middle.
make sure frozen vegetables are cooked before you eat them. If intending to use cold, cook first, cool quickly and store in the fridge for up to two days.
if you are cooking a large dish you may have to check in more than one place that it is cooked properly.
always follow cooking instructions on the label.
don't reheat food more than once.
when reheating, take extra care your food is heated all the way through.

Are you cooking for someone with a food allergy? Read our tips on how to safely cook for someone with a food allergy.

Cooking meat

When cooking certain meats, they should be cooked thoroughly all the way through. To check that meat is cooked properly it’s a good idea to use a food thermometer. Alternatively, the meat should be steaming hot when you cut into it, the juices run clear and there should be no pink meat.

This advice applies to cooking:

turkey
chicken
duck
goose
pork
minced meat products such as burgers, sausages and kebabs

If you're cooking a whole chicken or other bird, pierce the thickest part of the leg (between the drumstick and the thigh) with a clean knife or skewer until the juices run out. The juices shouldn't have any pink or red in them and a food thermometer should reach a safe cooking temperature of 75°C.

Kidneys, liver and other types of offal should be cooked thoroughly until they’re steaming hot all the way through.

A person checking the temperature of a roasted turkey with a meat thermometer.

Rare meat

Meats such as steaks and joints of beef or lamb, can be served rare as long as the outside has been properly cooked or sealed to kill bacteria. However, rolled joints need to be cooked all the way through and checked using the juices and core temperature method. This is because bacteria can be all the way through the meat.

Eggs

Is it ok to eat raw and lightly cooked hen eggs?

People who are in good health are unlikely to experience food poisoning through consuming UK hen eggs. Therefore, people in this group can eat raw or soft-boiled UK hen eggs, or foods containing lightly cooked UK hen eggs.

People who are more vulnerable to infection or who are likely to suffer more serious symptoms from food poisoning need to be more careful. This includes children, older adults (those that are aged 65 and over) and those who are pregnant. People in these groups can eat raw or lightly cooked UK hen eggs or foods containing them if the eggs are produced under the Lion Code with a British Lion mark or under the Laid in Britain egg assurance scheme. Dishes or food made with raw/lightly cooked eggs include mayonnaise, soufflé and tiramisu for example.

If the eggs are not Lion Code or Laid in Britain, or if in doubt, people who may be more vulnerable to infection are advised to eat eggs thoroughly cooked.

This advice does not extend to those with severely weakened immune systems requiring medically supervised diets prescribed by health professionals.

Non-hen eggs carry a higher risk of salmonella and shouldn’t be used to prepare raw or lightly cooked egg dishes. Eggs from animals other than chickens should always be cooked thoroughly.

Leftovers

If you have cooked food that you aren't going to eat straight away, cool it as quickly as possible (ideally within one to two hours) and then store it in the fridge. Make sure your fridge is between 0°C and 5°C.

To make sure your leftovers are safe to eat:

don't keep them for longer than two days
don't keep rice for longer than 24 hours and only reheat it once
when reheating food, make sure it's steaming hot all the way through
don't reheat food more than once

One of the main reasons for food waste is because people make more than they need. If you cook too much food, using leftovers is a good way to reduce the amount of food you waste and save money too, just make sure you do it safely.

Takeaway rice

Some food businesses might cook their rice and serve it to customers immediately. But others might precook and reheat it before serving. This means it can be hard to tell whether takeaway rice is safe to reheat or not.

If you’re not sure how takeaway rice has been cooked, stored and handled, it’s best not to reheat it.

If you want to store and reheat leftovers, check with the food business how they prepared and stored their rice.

Two white takeout containers and a metallic takeaway tray on a wooden table

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