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Grey nomads urged to be food-smart

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Senator Jan McLucas and the City of Fremantle are urging "grey nomads" to be food-smart when they hit the highways this year.

“With the season now upon us, when many Australians take to the road, it is important to remember basic safety precautions when handling food,” Senator McLucas said.

Each year, about 5.4 million Australians get food poisoning and 120 people die as a result. This year a fact sheet, On the Road, has been produced by the Food Safety Information Council to help older travellers.

“Food safety is especially important to older people, who potentially have less immunity against infections and, in particular, less digestive system capacity to destroy bacteria ingested in food,” Senator McLucas said.

“Many grey nomads from southern Australia head north and they are often unaware of the extra risk posed by the hotter and more humid climate when preparing and storing food.”

Basic precautions are simple and include:
• If re-heating food, re-heat to steaming hot.
• Keep food refrigerated at or below 5°C.
• Separate raw from ready-to-eat food, to avoid contamination.
• Ensure that preparation areas, utensils and hands are clean.

“The tips prepared by the Food Safety Information Council are extremely important when travelling because the food safety risks are greater when food is prepared outdoors or in cramped kitchenettes; fridges are smaller and may be shut down when travelling, and clean running water may not be available,” Senator McLucas said.

“It’s great to see people enjoying the outdoor life but imagine what it would be like if you got food poisoning when you were in a remote area, a long way from a doctor.

“The travelling life should be carefree - without the worry of food poisoning, which is preventable with just a little care to cook, chill, clean and separate our food.”

The On the Road fact sheet is available at What’s New, on the Food Safety Information Council’s website at www.foodsafety.asn.au.

The Food Safety Information Council is Australia’s leading disseminator of consumer-targeted food safety information. It is a non-profit organisation, supported by the Department of Health and Ageing, state and territory health and food safety agencies, local governments, and leading professional, industry and community bodies. More details are available at the above website.

This information is brought to you by the City of Fremantle’s Environmental Health Services – call 9432 9856.