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Australian Food Safety Week will be held from 8 to 15 November 2025. This year's theme is ‘Don’t swallow the myth – Food safety myth busting.’

As part of Australian Food Safety Week, CCNI Food Safety trainer Adrian Way is encouraging local consumers not to ‘swallow’ food safety myths.

‘There are an estimated 4.67 million cases of food poisoning in Australia each year, resulting in 47,900 hospitalisations, 38 deaths and a cost to the economy of $3 billion,’ Adrian said.

One of the most common myths is that food borne disease is a minor illness when it can leave you with long term effects such as reactive arthritis.’

Food Safety Myths – Busted
Here are some common myths addressed by the Food Safety Information Council:

• Hand sanitiser is better than handwashing. Hand sanitiser is great if handwashing facilities are not available but remember that sanitiser does not work on highly contagious viruses like Norovirus which is only removed from your hands by handwashing with soap and running water and then drying thoroughly on a clean towel.
• If you drop food on the floor it's ok to eat up to 5 seconds. Bacteria don’t politely wait 5 seconds to contaminate food dropped on the floor. Your floor will be contaminated from dirty shoes, by pets walking through and general day-to-day life.
• You need to throw out food after it’s best before date. Best before is only an indicator of quality and can still be eaten after that date but you should use (or freeze) food by its use by date.
• Hamburgers can be served rare. Always cook minced meat products such as hamburgers and sausages until they are 75°C inside because bacteria on the outside of meat pieces can be transferred throughout the meat when it is minced.
• You can tell if food is contaminated because it smells or tastes ‘off’. You can get food poisoning from food that smells and tastes great. Bacteria can grow quickly in food that has been left in the temperature danger zone between 5°C and 65°C with no change in the food’s smell or appearance. When food smells “off” it is usually due to spoilage bacteria growing and they may not make you sick.
• It’s OK to cut mould off food. It's not okay to cut mould off food, even if there is only a small amount of mould. Some moulds make and release poisons, called mycotoxins, into the food that could, over time, make you very sick.

Entertaining Safely at Home
With the holiday period approaching—and more meals shared across generations—remember that young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to severe foodborne illness.

Taking simple precautions can help avoid giving friends and family food poisoning when entertaining.

Food Safety Training With CCNI
Food safety is something we all play a part in. Whether you’re preparing meals at home, entertaining during the holiday season or volunteering at community events, understanding safe food handling protects the people you care about.

Our Food Safety training provides the practical skills and knowledge to help you make safe choices when preparing and storing food. Training is delivered in supportive, small-group settings across our campuses. We can also arrange group bookings to support businesses in meeting their food safety obligations.