What are the main causes of bacterial food poisoning?
• Food prepared too far in advance and then kept at room temperature. Food poisoning bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature. Any food prepared in advance must be refrigerated in order to slow bacterial growth. • Undercooking. This is dangerous because any harmful bacteria in the food will not be destroyed. • Not reheating food to high enough temperatures. Reheated products are those which have been previously cooked. If the subsequent cooling has not been rapid enough, any spores in the food will have had time to germinate. It is vital that these products are thoroughly reheated in order to destroy any bacteria which may have been produced by the spores. • Cross contamination. Food poisoning bacteria are very often present in raw food, especially raw meat, poultry and salad vegetables. If these bacteria are transferred to ready-to-eat foods, food poisoning can result. Cross contamination occurs for example during storage when the juices from raw meat are allowed to drip onto cooked
