Food Safety Tips for Easter Buffet

Easter public holidays are good occasions for people to spend times with relatives and friends. Buffet is a good choice on dining out as it can meet the needs of different persons. Although choosing our favourites from a great variety of food and enjoying them bring us great joy, we must remember certain food safety tips for a healthy meal.

As wise consumers, we should choose a reliable food premise with good environmental hygiene. Personal hygiene is equally important. We should thoroughly wash our hands with soap and clean water before eating and after going to the toilet.

At the buffet, we should take note of the following to prevent cross contamination between different foods: use a clean bowl or plate to take foods each time instead of reusing the same one, and use separate utensils when choosing raw and cooked foods. In order to ensure that foods can be kept at appropriate temperature and prevent them from being contaminated by people inadvertently, we must cover the food container with the lid provided after taking food each time. Also, we should finish our food as soon as possible instead of keeping them too long at room temperature.

For raw foods or cold dishes such as oysters, sashimi, sushi and salads, we should pay attention to the storage conditions of the food premise. These high-risk foods should be put in a chiller or on ice with storage temperature at or below 4℃ so as to prevent the possible growth of bacteria. Similarly, we should pay attention to the storage temperature for cooked foods. Hot dishes should be placed on heating apparatus with temperature at 60℃ or above. If cold dishes are not cold, hot dishes are only lukewarm or foods look or taste abnormal, you should avoid them.

Last but not the least, all of us should maintain a balanced diet and do not overeat at buffets. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with weakened immunity should try to avoid high-risk foods such as raw foods and cold dishes. Bear in mind the above food safety tips and we can enjoy a great buffet happily and healthily.