Food warning issued on leftovers

The Food Safety Promotion Board has issued a warning to families sitting down to leftovers today.

They’re being warned to re-heat food properly, to cover leftovers before storing them and to throw out food over three days old.

According to the Board, 100,000 people will suffer from gastro-enteritis this Christmas from leftovers.

SafeFood says Christmas is a particularly dangerous time with fridges often crammed with food – which may not have cooled down sufficiently.

Spokeswoman Fiona Gilligan said: “Make sure all leftovers are placed in the fridge, which should be below 5C.

"Make sure you only heat what you need and throw out all leftovers after three days”.