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1. Washing hands

Our hands are one of the main ways germs are spread, so it's important to wash them thoroughly with soap and warm water before cooking, after touching the bin, going to the toilet, and before and after touching raw food.

Raw meat, including poultry, can contain harmful bacteria that can spread easily to anything it touches. This includes other food, worktops, tables, chopping boards, and knives.

"Lots of people think they should wash raw chicken, but there's no need," says food hygiene expert Adam Hardgrave. "Any germs on it will be killed if you cook it thoroughly. In fact, if you do wash chicken, you could splash germs on to the sink, worktop, dishes or anything else nearby."

Some people believe freezing chicken kill’s germs such as Campylobacter. The freezing process does reduce Campylobacter levels, but does not eliminate it completely. The safest way to kill all traces of Campylobacter is by cooking poultry thoroughly.

Take particular care to keep raw food away from ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit. These foods won't be cooked before you eat them, so any germs that get on to them won't be killed.

"Use different chopping boards for raw and ready-to-eat foods," says Hardgrave.

When storing raw meat, always keep it in a clean, sealed container and place it on the bottom shelf of the fridge, where it can't touch or drip on to other foods.

2. Cooking

Cooking food at the right temperature will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. Check that food is piping hot throughout before you eat it.

The foods below need to be cooked thoroughly before eating:

•poultry

•pork

•offal, including liver

•burgers

•sausages

•rolled joints of meat

•kebabs

When cooking burgers, sausages, chicken and pork, cut into the middle to check that the meat is no longer pink, the juices run clear and it's piping hot (steam is coming out).

When cooking a whole chicken or other bird, pierce the thickest...