National Food Safety Week 2011 - Quiz Answers

Food Safety Quiz Answers

Food Safety Week is a national initiative held annually by the Food Standards Agency to promote good food hygiene in the home. This year it ran from the 6th to the 12th of June with the theme 'behind closed doors' - what do people really do in their own kitchens?

Council employees and members of the public had the opportunity to win one of a selection of great prizes including a Food Processor, Nuffield Health Club Pass and a food production hamper by taking part in a Food Safety Quiz, either online via the Internet/intranet or in person on the day. To view the list of prize winners please use the attached document on this page.

Staff and the public were invited to Bentley Training Kitchen to discover more about food safety, healthier eating, physical exercise and growing your own fruit and vegetables. The event was organised by staff from Regulation and Enforcement and Bentley Training Centre, together with some of their partners in the NHS, PCT and local businesses.

Visitors took a tour around the growing projects, entered the quizzes and competitions and watched a cookery demonstration promoting the use of home grown fruit, vegetables and herbs, showing how easy it is to adapt recipes to ensure they are mouth watering and nutritious.

Below are the answers to the quiz.

Q1. True or false: You can reheat leftovers as many times as you like

False - Some types of germs can survive cooking and will grow in the food as it cools. The more times you warm it up and cool it down, the more likely it is that there will be enough germs to cause food poisoning.

Q2. True or false: If something is cooked on the outside it will definitely be cooked on the inside

False - It takes time for the heat to travel all the way through food and kill any germs on the inside.

Q3. Which one of these types of meats is safe to eat rare/pink?

1. Beef Sirloin Steak - Correct
2. Pork
3. Chicken
4. Minced Meat
5. Sausages
6. Burgers

Most of the germs on a beef steak will be on the outside of the steak, so long as the outside is fully cooked these germs will be killed. This is not true of the other meats - there will probably be germs inside them so they must be cooked all the way through.

Q4. How can you tell that chicken is properly cooked? (Tick all that apply)

1. It's hot on the outside
2. It's not pink - Correct
3. Juices run clear - Correct
4. After the time stated on the instructions
5. It's golden brown
6. It's steaming hot all the way through - Correct

For those of you that entered the competition electronically, there was only space to choose one of these options, so we marked any of the 3 above correct.

Q5. True or false: It is important to clean chopping boards after using them for raw meat

True - All raw meat contains some germs.

Q6. True or false: You only need to clean hands and kitchen surfaces when they look dirty

False - Germs are invisible.

Q7. True or false: You should wash chicken and other poultry before cooking

False - Although most raw meat and poultry will have some germs on it, washing won't get rid of them. In fact, washing is more likely to spread germs around the sink. Little splashes of water can contaminate the taps, draining board, you, your worktops and anything else in the way. Thorough cooking is the only way to get rid of these nasty germs.

Q8. True or false: Raw meat should be stored at the top of the fridge

False - You don't want any blood and germs dripping onto things stored underneath it, so store it at the bottom of the fridge in a covered container.

Q9. Why is it important to dry your hands after washing them?

1. So that they don't drip
2. So that your hands don't get cold
3. Germs spread more easily from wet hands - Correct

Q10. A pathogen is a living thing which:

1. Is only found in food
2. Causes disease
3. Causes food to go mouldy
4. Is only found on the skin