The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has issued a warning after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar posted photos of his fridge on social media.
The Tanaiste documented his partner Matt Barrett’s weekly meal prep of what appears to be sausages, eggs, ham, and pancakes, which was stored in lidless Tupperware cases in their fridge. He uploaded a photo to his Instagram story and captioned it: "Matt has the meal prep done for the week. Fair play!"
The post gathered a lot of interest online, as many people tried to figure out what the foods in the photo were. Social media users also pointed out that none of the containers had lids on them.
However, the Tanaiste later clairified that they do indeed use lids. He said on Instagram: "I am in trouble with Matt for not doing justice to his meal prep efforts with my photo.
"For everyone asking, yes we do use lids and have vegetables. Sorry Matt!"
Read more: Twitter launches jokes at Leo Varadkar's ‘weird sterile’ fridge
One person asked the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on Twitter if the foods were prepared safely. They said: "Not being funny but are all of these particular foods safe to prepare in advance like this? I’ve my doubts about some of the elements here @FSAIinfo."
The FSAI replied: "Storing batched cooked or leftover food safely will reduce the risk of possible food poisoning. By safely we mean that the food should be stored in the fridge (at between 0-5°C) or freezer (at -18°C or less) within 2 hours of cooking and used within 2-3 days.
"Reheat the stored food to 70°C or higher at the core of the food. It should be very hot and steaming before it is served."
When specifically asked about the lack of lids, the FSAI said: "Generally we recommend that lids are used. But if there is no risk of cross-contamination from raw foods to cooked or ready to eat foods, then it should be safe."
They also posted a link to their home cooking and storage advice page.
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