Take care with the barbecue

Jul 14 2009 Ask Alan

Q. We love barbecues but are children more likely to get food poisoning this way?

A. Your children are as likely to get food poisoning as you are if food isn’t cooked properly.

These bacteria will quite happily thrive in any gut if you are clumsy enough to let them in on what’s being cooked. Causing a range of stomach upsets but occasionally capable of laying people low for days and rarely causing more serious illness that can land anyone, children included, in hospital.

The summer barbecue is a common culprit – partly through temperatures possibly being lower than an oven or grill, partly through people forgetting food needs to thaw and not stand in direct sun.

The food should not be cooked from frozen. Thaw it properly where it can’t drip on to food that’s eaten raw. Cook thoroughly, checking the middle of the meat carefully. Don’t store it in the warm for hours on end, even after cooking. Wash your hands before handling food.

It’s great that a lot of kids now know the flavour of food cooked ‘on the barbie’: but a little vigilance will stop a lot of misery.