Held from 13-20 November, this year's Australian Food Safety Week focusses on raising awareness of the importance of food safety during emergency situations such as fires, floods and storms.
While food safety may be the last thing on someone's mind at the height of a natural disaster, by understanding the hazards - and with a little preparation - risks associated with food-borne illness and contamination can be reduced.
Natural disasters can leave homes and businesses without power for extended periods, which means a lack of safe refrigeration for food, gas for cooking and potentially safe water for drinking and cleaning.
Certain emergencies can also expose food and water to contaminants so it is important to know the risks and be prepared.
How you can be prepared
There are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself, family or business from food-borne illness during an emergency situation. Visit our food safety pages
