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How to prepare baby food safely

When you’re preparing your baby’s food you need to be especially careful about hygiene. With less developed immune systems, babies are far more susceptible to bugs and infections.

Always make sure you have clean hands

You should always wash your hands before you start preparing a meal for your baby. Before your baby starts eating, remember to wash her hands as well.

Clean equipment

You should sterilise any feeding spoons you use until your baby’s at least six months old. You should also wash baby bowls in and any other feeding equipment in really hot soapy water, then use absolutely clean papers towels or tea towels to dry them.

Wash any high chairs, bibs or eating areas in hot soapy water, and also wipe them over with antibacterial cleaner. Change your kitchen cloths and tea towels frequently.

A healthy kitchen routine

Make sure you check the use-by dates on any packaging and ensure that you don’t prepare any food that’s gone out of date. Ensure that any safety seals or lids on foods are intact before using, and always decant food from cans into other safe containers. Open cans left in the fridge would create a breeding ground for bacteria of all kinds.

Food storage

Check the temperature of your fridge; it should be between 0 -5 degrees C (32–41 degrees F). Buy a fridge thermometer if you haven’t got one.

Store raw meat and poultry at the very bottom of the fridge in a sealed container to prevent any blood or other liquid dripping and spreading dangerous bacteria to other food. Never cook with meat that’s passed its ‘use by’ date.

If you have cooked meat and then wish to store it, make sure it’s cooled right down then place it into the fridge or freezer, and keep any cooked meat totally separate from raw meat. Any baby food you prepare for use later on should also be cooled quickly then stored in the fridge.

Any food that you’ve prepared and don’t intend to use for over 24 hours should be frozen. When using food from the freezer ensure it’s thoroughly defrosted before you cook it, unless the labelling says otherwise.

Food preparation

Make sure that all animal products including meat, fish poultry and eggs are thoroughly cooked before giving them to your baby. Remember to use different knives and chopping boards for meats and vegetables.

Reheating food

If you reheat food for your baby, remember that this can’t be done more than once, or the food will become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. When you do reheat food, make sure its piping hot throughout, then allow it to cool down before giving it to your baby.

To ensure that it’s at the right temperature, test a small bit of food on the inside of your wrist. If you use a microwave to reheat food, remember that this method can create uneven hotspots through the food. Some areas can be very cool, others piping hot so make sure the food is a safe temperature throughout before feeding it to your baby.

Leftover food and use by dates

It’s vital to throw away any leftover food. This is because any food that’s had contact with your baby’s saliva will grow unhealthy bacteria that will multiply if kept. However, if the unused food has remained in the jar and hasn’t had any contact with your baby’s saliva you can keep it in the fridge for 24 hours after it’s been opened.

Check the ‘best before’ and use by dates on food that you give to your baby. Leftovers should be refrigerated within two hours of cooking and eaten within three days, and leftovers should be kept in secure containers in the fridge between a 0ºC and 5ºC.