Cold foods should be kept at a temperature of

To reduce the risk of bacterial contamination, many foods must be stored in the refrigerator and thus kept below 5 degrees Celsius. These foods are often classified as ?high-risk foods? and include ? meat, poultry, dairy, seafood, eggs, smallgoods and cooked rice and pasta. This also refers to ready-to-eat foods that have high-risk foods as ingredients and include ? casseroles, quiche, pasta salad, pizza, sandwiches and many cakes.

By keeping these high-risk foods under 5 degrees Celsius it stops them from entering the ?danger-zone? ? temperatures between 5 degrees Celsius and 60 degrees Celsius. The danger-zone is the temperature zone which provides bacteria with the perfect environment to rapidly grow and multiply to numbers that cause food poisoning.