Thermometer theme for Australian Food Safety Week 2017

Held 11–18 November, the Australian Food Safety Week 2017 has announced that the theme will be ‘Is it done yet? Use a thermometer for great food, cooked safely every time’.

The cases of food poisoning have been increasing in recent years, and the frozen berries Hepatitis A crisis in 2016 indicated it is not always a result of common culprits such as raw poultry. In Australia alone, an average of 4.1 million people get food poisoning every year, 1 million have to visit a doctor, 32,000 people end up in hospital and 86 people die.

The Australian Food Safety Week aims to reduce this number by encouraging the Australian and New Zealand Food Ministerial Forum to prioritise reducing foodborne illness and raise awareness of the escalating cases of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection in Australia.

“Australian Food Safety Week is the major activity of the Food Safety Information Council and plays a vital role in reducing the cases of food poisoning in the Australian community. Educating people to purchase a food thermometer for their home kitchen and to learn how to use it correctly to cook food safely will contribute to a reduction in food poisoning,” explained Food Safety Information Council Chair Rachelle Williams.

The 2016 Food Safety Week successfully spread information regarding foodborne illnesses, with 38 print media articles, 67 TV news items and 69 radio items reaching a total audience 5,112,659 between November 2016 and January 2017.

They hope to continue to raise awareness with a downloadable package of material such as “an online quiz and safe cooking temperature advice graphics”, according to Williams.