Now that sunny weather has arrived, many of us will be enjoying eating outside at picnics or barbecues. To make sure our summer memories are all positive ones, Horsham District Council wants to share some advice on food hygiene and waste disposal.
Our Environmental Health team has shared these top tips for al fresco food safety:
For a barbecue:
- Defrost frozen meat overnight in the bottom of the fridge and use as soon as possible
- Wash hands and clean down surfaces before preparing food and after preparing raw meat
- Keep raw meat away from ready to eat foods
- Ensure meats are cooked all the way through
- Keep ready to eat foods covered.
When eating outdoors:
- Keep perishable foods cool for as long as possible before use
- Use ice packs for transportation. You could use frozen water bottles, so that you have a nice cool drink once you’ve eaten
- Wash your hands, or if that is not possible have wipes and sanitiser available.
Be mindful of fire safety at your barbecue. Before lighting please ensure you have chosen a flat stable area well away from anything flammable like sheds or fences. Never light a barbecue indoors and keep children and pets away from the cooking area. Never leave a barbecue unattended and keep a water or sand bucket close by in case of emergency. Don’t try to move a lit barbecue.
For gas barbecues ensure that the gas tap is turned off before changing the gas bottle and only change bottles in the open air. Always turn the gas off after you have finished cooking.
If you avoid disposable barbecues and treated ‘easy light’ charcoal which can be toxic, you can be more sustainable using cooled charcoal ash on your garden soil.
Disposable barbecue waste will need to be put in your general waste bin. Please let everything cool down thoroughly before you attempt to move or dispose of waste. Coals and hot ashes can set fire to items in your bin, even when they seem cool. Please be cautious when moving ashes as disturbing them can introduce oxygen and reignite smouldering coals. Recently one of our waste collection vehicles caught fire from coals in a bin. This sort of preventable incident risks the safety of our waste crews and fire service personnel.
It is up to all of us to keep our shared green spaces safe and tidy. After enjoying picnics and barbecues, please take your litter home and recycle where you can.
More safety advice is available on the FSA website as well as Safety Advice on the West Sussex Fire and Rescue website.