Why Food Safety Matters More As We Age – And 5 Simple Ways to Protect Yourself

Most of us assume food poisoning is something that happens to other people – a dodgy takeaway, a mishandled picnic, bad luck more than anything else. But research consistently shows that assumption becomes riskier the older we get, and it’s worth understanding exactly why.

Why older Australians face a genuinely higher risk

According to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, our bodies undergo changes as we age that make it considerably easier for harmful bacteria and viruses in food to make us seriously unwell, and older adults are more likely to develop serious complications from food poisoning than younger, healthy adults. This isn’t a minor technicality – it reflects real, biological changes in how our immune systems respond to the same bugs that might give a younger person a mild, forgettable stomach upset.

Here’s the genuinely interesting, and slightly concerning, twist. Research into older adults’ food safety habits has found that despite this heightened biological vulnerability, most people in this age group don’t actually perceive themselves as personally at risk of foodborne illness. In other words, the group most likely to become seriously unwell is often the least likely to feel like the warning applies to them. Separate Australian research has also found genuine behavioural differences in food safety habits between older and younger consumers, and that men tend to take more risks with food hygiene than women.

There’s another quiet trap worth knowing about too: national research has found many Australians don’t consider eggs a particularly risky food, despite them being one of the most common sources of foodborne illness in the country. It’s a useful reminder that “feels safe” and “is safe” aren’t always the same thing.

The science behind keeping food safe

During National Science Week (15–23 August), the Food Safety Information Council is reminding Australians that food safety is fundamentally rooted in science, even if the basics feel like common sense. The Council’s Scientific Director, Associate Professor Julian Cox, notes that while technology has genuinely advanced how quickly outbreaks are identified and traced – including whole genome sequencing, which can match the exact “fingerprint” of bacteria or viruses between sick people and suspected foods — none of that replaces the basic, everyday habits that actually prevent illness in your own kitchen in the first place.

5 simple ways to keep your food safe

1. Clean – your health really is in your hands. Follow the 20/20 rule: wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm soapy water, then dry them for 20 seconds before you start cooking. Do this regularly, especially after handling raw meat, unwashed fruit and vegetables, using the toilet, or handling pets. Wash and thoroughly dry utensils and chopping boards between handling different foods too.

2. Chill – get perishables cold, and keep them cold. Refrigerate meat, poultry, dairy, seafood and salad ingredients as soon as possible after buying them, and get frozen food into the freezer quickly. Use a fridge thermometer to confirm your fridge is running at or below 5°C – it’s easy to assume it is without ever actually checking. Cooked leftovers should go into the fridge once steaming stops and be eaten within 2 – 3 days, or frozen straight away. Always defrost frozen food in the fridge, never left out on the kitchen bench.

3. Cook – get it properly hot, right through. Chicken, mince, boned meats, hamburgers, stuffed meats and sausages should be cooked right through to 75°C, checked with a meat thermometer if you have one. Serve hot food steaming hot, above 60°C, and always fully defrost frozen poultry or stuffed meats before cooking them.

4. Separate – stop cross-contamination before it starts. Keep raw and cooked foods apart, both in storage and during preparation. Use a separate chopping board for raw meat, and store raw meat and poultry on the bottom shelf of the fridge so juices can’t drip onto other food below. Never put cooked food back on a surface or board that held raw meat without washing it thoroughly first. And if you’re currently unwell with gastro symptoms yourself, it’s best to avoid preparing food for others until you’ve recovered.

5. Take extra care with raw and undercooked foods. This is a timely one – the theme of this year’s Australian Food Safety Week (7–14 November 2026) is specifically the risk posed by raw and undercooked foods. Dishes involving raw or lightly cooked eggs, seafood, or minimally cooked meat carry a genuinely higher risk than most people assume, particularly for older adults. When in doubt, cook it through rather than serving it rare or raw.

None of this means becoming anxious about every meal – it simply means treating food safety as something that matters a little more at this stage of life than it might have a few decades ago, and not assuming that “it’s never happened to me before” means it never will. A few consistent habits in the kitchen go a long way toward making sure it stays that way.