As leading Cape Town meat wholesalers, we often around this time of the year cover the need for food safety and how best to prepare for the upcoming holidays. This year is no different, especially when we consider the continued need for the highest hygiene standards, and the rising cost of food where we want to avoid food wastage wherever possible.
So, to help you stay healthy and to save money this festive season, here are 7 tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep everything clean. It goes without saying that everything that touches your food should be clean, from hands to dishes, countertops and utensils, but it’s also in the detail so remember to wash everything in between changing food types i.e. clean (or ideally separate) cutting boards for meat versus vegetables.
2. Watch the high-risk foods. With raw meats, dairy, eggs and seafood, you want to be especially careful when buying, storing and cooking them. Check their expiry dates and be sure to get them into the fridge as soon as possible to maintain their freshness.
3. Avoid overloading your fridge. It’s tempting to overstock your fridge to be ready for any eventuality over the festive season, but remember air circulation is necessary to keep foods cold and if there’s too much in there, it’s not doing its job optimally.
4. Follow a packing order. The bottom shelf of your fridge should hold your raw meat, poultry, and Halaal fish in sealed containers to prevent them from leaking, whereas the middle and top shelves should carry your dairy products, ready meals and cooked meats.
5. Thaw foods properly. There are three ways to defrost food the right way, let it defrost overnight in the fridge, let it sit in cold water, or defrost it in the microwave - the thing to remember is that if you opt for method two or three, you have to cook the food immediately afterwards.
6. Cook foods thoroughly. The safest way to check this is to use a food thermometer - meat, and fish should be cooked to an internal temperature of 63 ℃, ground beef and eggs to 71 ℃, and poultry and leftovers to 74 ℃.
7. Monitor your temperatures. To avoid bacteria growth, the goal is to keep cold food cold and hot food hot and if you’re planning on refrigerating cooked food, be sure to do so within two hours of it being out at room temperature.

Here’s to happy and healthy food prep, and if you need to stock up ahead of the festivities, be sure to give N1 a call. We provide the best quality meat Cape Town has to offer, along with a wide variety of wholesale frozen vegetables and frozen pastries - in short everything you need to make it a fabulous festive season!