Barbecues are brilliant for long summer days! But make sure
you and your family stay safe and eat well with our safety guide to
barbecuing.
When the sun finally puts his hat on and starts shining,
it’s great to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Barbecues are perfect
for lighter evenings and parties outside. But we have to be extra
careful when it comes to keeping safe. Every year about 1000 people get
injuries, such as burns, from barbecues.
Barbecues and the raw meat that you cook on them are
also a hot spot for bugs like E.coli and salmonella. These beastly bugs
can make you seriously poorly. So before your dad cooks up a feast on
the barbie, here’s the buzz on becoming a BBQ pro.
Keep a distance
Barbecues are sizzling hot so it’s very important to
stay away from the heat. Never go anywhere near the BBQ, especially if
your parents aren’t close by. It might be fun to keep an eye on what
dad’s cooking but try and wait until it’s safely on your plate.
Fun and games
When the barbecue is sizzling you need to slow down. Make sure you play games as far away from the barbecue as possible.
Food glorious food
It’s mega-important to make sure that chicken, pork,
burgers, sausages and kebabs are piping hot all the way through,
including in the middle. There mustn’t be any pink meat. Even if it is
burnt and black on the outside that doesn’t mean it’s cooked properly on
the inside.
Get your parents to whack it back on the barbie if
you’re worried it isn’t quite cooked. You can also cook meat in the oven
first and then put it onto the barbecue to add flavour and colour.
Raw deal
Raw meat is meat that hasn’t been cooked. It can
contain food poisoning bugs. To stop these bugs from spreading make sure
you keep raw meat away from food that is already cooked.
Also keep it far away from food you don’t cook like
fruit, vegetables, salads and burger buns. Never put cooked food
somewhere that has had raw meat on it. Always use separate knives and chopping boards too.
Get scrubbing
Always give your hands a really good wash after touching raw meat and before you prepare any food.
Ice ice baby
Make sure frozen food has properly defrosted in the fridge before you cook it.
Keep cool
Bugs love the warm weather because it helps them to grow. Try not to keep food out of the fridge for too long.
Water works
Get your parents to keep a bucket of water close to the barbecue in case there are any accidents.
