Ways in which “Ready to Eat” foods can be more dangerous than “Ready to Cook” foods

There is no ‘last line of defence’ with Ready to Eat foods; as they will not receive thermal treatment that kills bacteria before consumption.

Although Ready to Cook products may be more robust in general that Ready to Eat products; this does not mean that foods that are going to be cooked before consumption can be treated in a careless manner however.
- Food spoilage can be sufficiently bad so that cooking instructions don’t make the food safe for consumption
- Food spoilage can render the product inedible
- If toxin producing bacteria produce toxins; cooking afterwards will not destroy them; making the food dangerous to eat; even if it has been cooked and tastes acceptably
In the event of re-contamination of Ready to Eat foods that can support bacterial growth; there is no competition / relatively little competition and the potential for rapid growth once the right conditions exists is more significant than it would be otherwise.