Defrosting

All food businesses in the Northern Territory must meet requirements and standards for keeping potentially hazardous food at safe temperatures, including while it is defrosting.

Ways to defrost food safely

There are 2 ways of defrosting food safely:

• slow defrosting in a refrigerator below 5 degrees Celsius or
• microwaving and cooking immediately after defrosting.

Ways to avoid risk

To defrost food safely, you should avoid all of the following:

• refreezing thawed food
• thawing frozen food at room temperature
• defrosting meat or poultry on benchtops or sinks.

More information

For more information, contact Environmental Health. For their contact details, go to the NT Health website.