Food safety in the outdoors

Clean

Wash hands thoroughly with soap and hot water and dry with a clean towel or paper towel. If you don't have access to water then use disposable wipes and a hand sanitiser. It's important to always wash your hands before handling food, but just as important to wash them after:

  • handling raw meat and poultry
  • going to the toilet
  • handling pets

Wash knives and utensils, and scrub chopping boards, between preparation of raw and cooked foods.

Cook

  • Make sure you decide in advance how you will cook eg, campfire or portable stove. Check before you go to make sure you are permitted to light a campfire in the area. Practice putting the camp stove together and lighting it before you pack.
  • Leftover food should be burnt not dumped and take rubbish bags to collect any other rubbish. Always take rubbish with you.
  • Refer to the doc website www.doc.govt.nz for more information

Cover

  • Keep raw meat and poultry covered and away from ready to eat food, fruit and vegetables.
  • Cover food when outdoors to prevent insects and bugs getting into it.

Chill

  • Keep perishable foods cold. Refrigerate or freeze perishable food overnight. Before leaving home, freeze clean empty milk containers filled with water to make a block of ice or use frozen chilly pads. When tramping you can freeze drinks and these will thaw as you walk and keep your food cold at the same time.
  • Fll the chilly bin in the reverse order. First packed foods should be the last foods consumed. The only exception is raw meat and poultry, which should be packed below ready to eat foods to prevent raw meat or poultry juices from dripping onto other foods.
  • Pack foods in small quantities.
  • At the campsite or beach insulate the chilly bin with a blanket or tarp - do not leave the chilly bin in the hot sun. It's a good idea to bring two chilly bins - one for drinks and snacks and the other for more perishable items.
  • If tramping for more than a day you can bring cold foods for the first day, but you will have to pack shelf stable foods for the remaining days of your tramp.

Safe drinking water

It is not a good idea to depend on fresh water from a lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean it appears. Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes or streams and there is no way of knowing what might have fallen into the water upstream.

Bring bottled or tap water for drinking. Always start out with a full water bottle, and replenish your supply from tested public systems when possible. On long trips you can find water in streams, lakes and springs, but be sure to purify any water from the wild (eg, by boiling, using water purification tablets or a water filter).

Refer to the NZFSA website www.nzfsa.govt.nz for more information on hunting, fishing (including food safety for seafood gatherers).