Good food starts with the ingredients, but likewise so does the spread of bacteria. The biggest source of bacteria comes from raw meat, poultry and seafood. If we want to stay healthy, we should store raw meat, poultry and seafood on the bottom shelf. This keeps the fresh stuff safe. Reseal raw ingredients once they’ve been opened to trap germs.

Keep your ready-to-eat food’s and produce at the top of the fridge, the furthest possible point away from the bacteria. It goes without saying but keep that fridge cold, 5°C or lower. A warm fridge is just a noisy cupboard.

Organise shelves with your flatmates, it’s a bit awkward and a bit of work, but food poisoning is arguably worse.

A good rule of life is if there is an explicit warning not to eat something, you shouldn’t eat it. It sucks to toss out that bulk pack of meat you bought in attempt to bulk up and save money. It arguably sucks more to miss the weekly society social because you can’t leave the bathroom. Listen to the Use By Dates and you’ll miss out on less.

If a student kitchen could speak, I think it would scream. As a good rule of thumb assume that whoever was in there before you did nothing but sneeze and rub raw chicken everywhere. That is to say you need to clean the worktop before cooking. Cleaning a workspace is easy, brush off all the big bits into a paper towel, and then spray with disinfectant and wipe with your cleaning up towel (a different one to your drying towel).

Fresh fruit and veg are good for you, the germs on them aren’t. Rinse off your Fruit and Veg with Water before using them. Don’t Wash Raw Meat, Poultry and Fish. It may feel like a good idea but all you’re doing is blasting a high-pressure spray of salmonella and other bacterium across your kitchen. Meats go straight from the packet to the heat.

It goes without saying but We Want Clean Hands and Cookware!. Wash those hands and get those chopping boards clean. Raw meat spreads bacteria so we want to Wash Our Knives and Cutting Boards after they come into contact with Raw Meat, Poultry or Seafood. If we want to avoid cross-contamination with our meat and produce, we have three options:

• Cut the Produce before the meat and pop it to the side.

• Thoroughly wash the knife and cutting board and chop the produce after.

• Use a separate knife and cutting board for produce.

Each of these options have pros and cons. I personally chop my produce and put it in a covered bowl before chopping the meat. That way I have less washing up to do, but as long as contaminants aren’t coming into contact with our fruit and veg, we are safe.

The nastiest thing in the kitchen, putting aside that dish your housemate has somehow been soaking for two weeks, is probably your tea towel, maybe your sponges too? Sponges and Towels get gross so we should replace them frequently. Use separate towels for Drying Dishes and Cleaning Counters. Personally, I’d recommend keeping tea towels in your own room, you never know what your housemates are doing with them.

Sorry to be blunt but your phone is gross, and you never wash it. Wash your hands after using your phone. If you’re looking at a recipe on your phone change the screen timeout settings so you don’t have to touch it as much.

Chilled foods are great. Cheeses and dips are low effort, high reward hosting foods; however, you should Bin chilled food that’s been out for 4 hours or more (2 hours on a hot day).

Leftovers are awesome as a student, they’re also what made me sick the most. You can only reheat food once and it needs to be steaming hot.