With just a few simple tips to remember, it’s easy to keep people and pets safe in the kitchen. From avoiding unsafe foods to knowing about allergies, and keeping kitchens safe from hazards.
Use safety gates for children and pets, have a first aid kit and extinguisher nearby, and keep emergency numbers to hand.
It’s best to just bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) along with rhubarb, tomato and citrus scraps, as acids may harm compost creatures.
Keep Sharp Tools Locked Away
- Keep kitchen knives in blocks, and store scissors and graters in drawers, with childproof locks.
- Learn how to chop food properly (and safely), keeping knives sharp (a dull knife is more dangerous).
Tips for Hot Surfaces & Liquids
- Turn pot handles inwards, and make use of back burners.
- When cooking, avoid floaty sleeves (and tie long hair back).
- Keep tea towels away from open flames.
- Keep children (and pets) away from kettles and trailing wires (like slow cookers on counters).
Prevent Food Poisoning
- Wash hands before and after preparing food..
- Clean chopping boards and surfaces with unscented cleaners and dishwash liquid (avoid citrus oils near pets)
- Food Standards Agency offers online food training courses.
- Store foods at correct temperatures, and keep your fridge cold.
- If cooking from frozen, thaw foods overnight in the fridge first.
Allergies & Medication (foods to avoid)
Always check for allergies, before serving food.
Some people cannot eat certain foods (like grapefruit or green vegetables) due to medication interactions. This does not mean you can’t have spinach. Just don’t chug down a smoothie made with a whole head of broccoli, each day!
Foods to Avoid When Pregnant
Pregnant (and nursing) women must avoid certain foods to keep them and babies safe. Also wash soil off salads and vegetables and avoid caffeine. Foods to avoid include:
- Alcohol & Caffeine
- Some Herb Teas (check labels)
- Raw Meat, Liver & Cold Cuts (salami, prosciutto, pepperoni)
- Game Meats (goose, partridge, pheasant)
- All Pâté & vegan Pâté (due to listeria risk)
- Raw or Partially Cooked Eggs
- Liquorice & Liquorice root
- Too much ginger (contracts uterus for early labour)
- Raw Fish (if you eat fish, no more than 2 weekly portions of oily fish or tuna steaks (no more than 4 cans of tuna)
Choking Hazards for Children & Pets
Choking hazards should be avoided for children and people with swallowing difficulties (and allergies). Also keep small toys off the kitchen floor where toddlers and pets could find them.
Download this e-book on vegetarian textured foods for hospitals, care homes and older patients.
Learn how to help someone who is choking. Foods to avoid include:
- Nuts, Seeds & Nut/Seed Butters
- Dry Bread, Crackers & Croutons
- Crumbly Foods (pies & biscuits)
- Peas, Grapes, Cherry Tomatoes, Cherries (even sliced)
- Carrot Sticks
- Sausages (slice lengthwise & again, for older children)
- Foods with Seeds (raspberries etc)
- Boiled Sweets
- Sticky Foods (some cheese, marshmallow, mochi)
- Tough Foods (steak, bacon, skin/bone/gristle)
- Stringy Foods ((beans, rhubarb)
- Floppy Foods (lettuce, cucumber, spinach)
- Chia seeds (mix with water first, if using for others)
Foods to Avoid Near Pets
Learn more on choosing better pet food. Use ceramic (harder to knock over) or stainless steel bowls (wash and rinse daily).
Rather than buy raised-bowls (which can increase risk of bloat in big-chested, old and overweight dogs), encourage slower eating.
Don’t let dogs run or take walks for at least one hour after eating (or after car travel).
Cooked bones can choke, but not all dogs are safe with raw bones either. Ask your vet about the best types of bones for your dog.
Always supervise eating, place bones in fridge after 15 minutes, and discard after a couple of days. Also be aware that dogs can get territorial around other dogs, when given bones.
Foods to keep away from pets include:
- Cooked bones (can choke)
- Chocolate (including white chocolate) & Caffeine
- Raw Eggs & Fish (salmon has a fatal parasite)
- Alliums (garlic, onion, shallots, leeks, chives)
- All Citrus Fruits & Dried Fruits
- Mushrooms & Avocado
- Fruit Pips & Seeds (contain natural cyanide)
- Faux Meats (inc. jackfruit)
- Raw Bread Dough (expands in the stomach)
- Corn-on-the-Cob (choking hazard)
- Spices (esp. nutmeg & mace)
- Most Nuts (esp. macadamia) & Seeds
- Xylitol (a sweetener, if used)
Dogs often like to play with and eat seaweed at the beach, but it can expand in the stomach as it dries, so keep them away. Read more on keeping dogs safe at the seaside.
If you grow your own food, create a pet-friendly garden (toxic plants and other hazards to avoid). Also avoid facing indoor foliage to face gardens, to help prevent stop bird strike).
A Fab Fun Book on Dog Safety
For Dog’s Sake is a fantastic little book packed with life-saving tips for dogs on toxic foods and plants to avoid, lots of other advice and a simple illustrated first aid section.
Sadly the book is out-of-print in the UK, but you can buy used copies online. Or order direct from Amy at her USA site (due to expensive shipping, she includes a lovely free gift with each order).
Don’t Cook Near Domestic Birds
Most non-stick pans are made with PFOA (a chemical that ends up in our oceans). You can buy non-toxic alternatives, but even if companies say the opposite, all cooking fumes are dangerous around birds. Most caged birds are likely happier in outdoor aviaries anyway, where they can at least fly and enjoy the company of other birds.
