It is the second week of November and the Food Safety Information Council (FSIC) is holding its annual Australian Food Safety Week!

The Food Safety Information Council provides information to consumers, aiming to reduce the incidence of food poisoning, and to protect people from what is often a nasty experience involving diarrhoea, vomiting, cramps and fever.

This years theme is Shopping Food Safety focusing on ‘Clean, Choose, Chill and Separate‘ when selecting food and transporting  it home safely. A national Newspoll Survey, commissioned by the Food Safety Information Council for Australian Food Safety Week, shows that too few Australian consumers are taking notice of vital food safety advice on food labels and are taking risks by not using insulated bags or coolers to transport refrigerated food.

Strict food safety standards apply to food retailers in Australia to ensure that the food you buy is safe. But there are some signs you can look for to ensure you buy a safe product. Once you buy the food, it’s up to you to make sure that it stays safe including not leaving shopping in a hot car. To read more about this topic, click here.

Resources available from over the years in various topics concerning consumer food safety. To view them, click here.

Source: Food Safety Information Council [13.11.2013]

While the food safety tips apply to all agricultural produce, fresh produce features as a significant risk to consumers due to the raw eaten nature of the product. Education on food safety is vital to ensure the integrity of fruit and vegetables to be healthy, nutritious and safe.