Don’t make aioli for Christmas lunch, food safety experts warn

IF YOU’RE cooking up a storm this festive season, forget about whipping up this tasty accompaniment. The risk is just not worth it.

IF YOU’RE cooking up a storm this festive season, forget about aioli.

The Food Safety Information Council (FSIC) is advising people to buy commercially made aioli and mayonnaise this summer to avoid food poisoning.

“It is better not to make these things yourself because there are issues associated with the eggs,” spokeswoman Rachelle Williams said.

Recipes for the creamy condiments include raw eggs, which can carry potentially deadly salmonella bacteria.

And salmonella food poisoning is guaranteed to ruin Christmas; it causes severe vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and abdominal cramps. In people with weaker immune systems or in young children and the elderly, it can be fatal.

As the temperatures rise over the next three months, so too will the number of food poisoning cases in Australia.

“The hotter the day, the increase in bacteria activity,” Ms Williams said. Ideally, people should ditch the apron and buy their aioli or mayonnaise from a commercial business with a good reputation.

There are an estimated 4.1 million reported cases of food poisoning in Australia each year or the equivalent of one in six of us.

Ms Williams says the good news was that it could be avoided by following food safety rules.

“The most important thing everybody can do to stop or reduce the likelihood of food poisoning is good hand washing,” she said.

“The basic rule is the 20/20 rule: you wash your hands for 20 seconds and you dry for 20 seconds.”