Barbecue food safety

It might be a while since you’ve used your barbecue so make sure you thoroughly clean it to remove grease and dirt.

Even if you have used it recently, it’s best practice to clean the barbecue before every use and don’t forget about your utensils. Cleaning these also helps to stop harmful bacteria from spreading onto food.

Nasty bugs in raw meats, like campylobacter in chicken, can cause food poisoning, which is often unpleasant and can be serious.

Campylobacter is the most common type of food poisoning and over half of cases of campylobacter food poisoning come from contaminated chicken. So it's especially important to cook chicken meat thoroughly when cooking it on the barbecue. Read more about campylobacter and how to keep yourself safe. 

NHS Inform has information on what to do if you think you have food poisoning.

Following the 4Cs of food hygiene - cleaning, chilling, cooking and avoiding cross-contamination - will help you prepare, make and store food safely.

Some top tips to minimise the risk of food poisoning at your barbecue are:

• making sure any frozen food is completely thawed before you cook it
• checking the use-by dates on food packaging. Eating food past its use-by date can make you unwell
• keeping raw meat separate from other foods to avoid cross-contamination - use sealed containers to separate raw and cooked food
• using different plates, chopping boards and utensils for raw and cooked meat
• not using a sauce or marinade for cooked food that’s had raw meat in it

During barbecue season, the temptation can be to cook everything quickly before the rain comes on. It’s important to cook food for the correct length of time and at the right temperature. You can do this by:

• waiting for the charcoal to glow red with a powdery grey surface to start cooking. Flames will blacken the outside of food but leave the middle raw
• rotating food on the barbecue so it cooks evenly
• checking the centre of the food to make sure it is cooked before serving — steam should be coming out of it
• making sure chicken, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs are cooked all the way through. They should be steaming hot, there should be no pink meat and the juices should run clear. Meat isn’t necessarily cooked inside just because it looks charred on the outside
• by far the best thing you can do to make sure food is cooked properly is to use a food thermometer. Insert it into the thickest part of the meat and when it reaches 75°C or above it is fully cooked. Pre-cooking food in the oven, pan or grill first is a great way to have more control, then finish it off on the barbecue for that chargrilled flavour

Even a tiny trace of an allergen can be enough to cause an allergic reaction. Food allergens can’t be removed by cooking, so it’s important that they’re managed carefully.

Ask guests about any allergies they may have. Clean surfaces thoroughly and follow advice for avoiding cross-contact in or outside the kitchen.

Simple steps can make sure you serve food safely once you’re ready to eat:

• wash your hands regularly with soap and warm water before eating and always after handling raw meat/poultry
• keep hot food hot and cold food cold until you’re ready to eat. Any foods which you would usually keep in the fridge at home also need to be kept cool at your barbecue. You can use a cool box or bag with ice, frozen gel packs or frozen drinks distributed evenly throughout to help keep your food cold
• keep anything ready-to-eat, like salad, away from raw meat to avoid spreading any harmful bacteria to foods that won’t be cooked

It’s a common problem – you’ve prepared too much food! When you have leftover food, there are a few things to remember to keep it safe to eat another day:

• put leftover food in the fridge as soon as possible as this helps to stop or slow down bacterial growth. Hot food needs to cool down first before storing in the fridge
• eat leftovers within two days – any longer gives time for any harmful bacteria to grow and multiply
• only reheat leftovers once and make sure it’s steaming hot all the way through before eating
• freezing is also a great way of keeping leftovers and reducing food waste