When preparing your turkey it is very important to keep raw poultry away from food that is ready to eat. This is because if raw poultry, or other raw meat, touches (or drips onto) these foods, bacteria will spread and will not be killed by cooking.

Kathy Wakefield, Infection Control Lead at NHS Rotherham, said: “Contrary to popular belief one of the most important things to remember is not to wash your turkey before you cook it.  Washing the turkey will cause bacteria to splash around the sink area and can lead to contamination of surrounding work surfaces, including taps.  Any bacteria will be killed off during the cooking process.

“If your turkey is frozen, make sure it's properly defrosted before you cook it. If it's still partially frozen, recommended cooking times won't be long enough to cook it thoroughly and bacteria that cause food poisoning could survive the cooking process.”

Bacteria can also spread from raw meat and poultry to worktops, dish-cloths, chopping boards, dishes and utensils. So, to keep your Christmas food safe, remember the following:

• Always wash your hands with warm water and soap, and dry them thoroughly, after touching raw poultry.
• Don't wash your turkey (or other poultry) – this is because bacteria can splash onto worktops, taps, dishes and other foods. Proper cooking will kill any bacteria, so you don't need to wash poultry.
• Always clean worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils thoroughly after they have touched raw poultry.
• Never use the same chopping board for raw poultry and ready-to-eat food without washing it thoroughly in warm soapy water. (If possible, use a separate chopping board just for raw meat and poultry).
• Use a separate cloth for wiping your hands during food preparation to that used for wiping services.

When you are storing raw meat, to help stop bugs spreading you should remember to:

• Always keep raw poultry away from other foods.
• Store raw poultry at the bottom of the fridge so it can't drip onto other foods.
• Keep all food covered at all times.
• Don’t leave food out at room temperature

For more information visit: www.eatwell.org.uk