If you’re handling food and drinks as part of your volunteering role, it’s important to be aware of guidance around food preparation and provision and adhere to the rules to keep everyone safe.

Food safety

Older people are more vulnerable to food poisoning than younger people, so if you prepare and provide food as part of your role as a Re-engage volunteer, it’s essential that the food you serve is safe.

Storing food safely

To keep food safe, please make sure you store any food with a 'use by' date, along with cooked dishes, salads, and dairy products in the fridge. It’s important that you keep chilled food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible during preparation, and that you cool cooked food quickly at room temperature and then place in the fridge within one to two hours.

Frozen food should be defrosted in the fridge overnight or in a microwave on the ‘defrost’ setting, shortly before cooking. Please avoid defrosting frozen food at room temperature as this can lead to the spread of harmful bacteria.

Cleaning

Remember to wash your hands before you prepare, cook, or eat food and take care to keep all utensils and dishes clean before preparing food, to avoid cross-contamination.

You should use different utensils, plates and chopping boards when preparing ready-to-eat foods and raw foods that require cooking and wash them thoroughly between tasks to avoid the spread of harmful bacteria.

You should also wash or change dish cloths, tea towels, sponges, and oven gloves regularly. It's important to let them dry before you use them again because dirty, damp cloths allow bacteria to breed.

What to do if someone has an allergy or intolerance

Preparing food for someone with allergies and intolerances can be worrying if you’re not used to doing it. If someone is allergic to something, and you’ve served them a food they can’t eat, simply taking it off their plate isn’t enough. Even a tiny trace can be enough to cause an allergic reaction.

It’s important that you keep any allergens separate from other foods and that you double check the ingredients lists on pre-packed foods for allergens.

It’s also a good idea to avoid adding toppings or decorations to dishes, and to thoroughly clean work surfaces and equipment to remove traces of anything you might have cooked before, to avoid cross-contamination.

Useful food safety links:

• Food preparation 

• Chilling, defrosting and freezing food safely   

• Preventing harmful bacteria from spreading 

• Cooking food and preventing food poisoning  

• Food allergy and intolerance