KEY POINTS:
University students living away from home for first time are in increased danger of getting food poisoning, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority says.
NZFSA communications director Sandra Daly said public health professionals had noted that young home leavers appeared to be over-represented in the foodborne illness statistics.
"While this is anecdotal, commonsense suggests that those in their late teens who have flown the nest have more on their minds than proper food handling and hand and kitchen hygiene," Ms Daly said.
"Combine this with the need to make funds go as far as possible and aging fridges in student flats, any parent can see how bacteria could be partying as hard as their kids."
Ms Daly said young people needed to remember the importance of the four Cs: clean, cook, cover and chill, and how proper kitchen hygiene would lessen their risk of joining the 200,000 New Zealanders who come down with foodborne illness each year.
- NZPA
