Doner kebabs

A doner kebab is a popular take-away food consisting of thin slices cut from a cylindrical block of minced and seasoned meat (beef, lamb or chicken) grilled on a vertical, rotating spit and eaten on unleavened bread with fresh salad and sauce. It is not a shish-kebab.

What is the concern with kebabs?

If not made hygienically, doner kebabs can pose a food safety risk for customers, because some of the ingredients are capable of allowing the rapid growth of disease-causing bacteria. Food businesses must ensure the food they sell is safe and properly handled.

Preparing and serving kebabs safely

Keep it clean

• Always wash hands whenever they are a likely source of contamination (such as after hanging a kebab block) in a proper hand washing facility.
• Don't prepare food for yourself or others if you are ill, especially if suffering from diarrhoea.

Store, cook and serve kebab meat safely

• Frozen kebab meat should be kept frozen until used.
• If you are making your own kebab, keep fresh minced meat for making kebabs under refrigeration until ready for use. Refrigerate freshly made kebab meat while it is setting.
• If you thaw frozen kebab meat before cooking, thaw under refrigeration or follow the supplier's instructions.
• Start cooking the kebab meat immediately after removing it from cold storage.
• Ensure sliced meat is properly cooked and kept above 60°C until served. Use a thermometer to check temperatures. Best practice is to use a second cook step by heating the shaved, cooked, kebab meat on the hot grill before service.
• Any leftover kebab meat that has been fully cooked may be used the next day provided it is cooled to less than 21°C within two hours from when cooking stops, and then to 5°C or less within the next four hours.
• Don't use any uncooked kebab meat left over from the previous day, unless it was placed directly into the freezer once cooking had stopped. This ensures kebab meat is rapidly cooled to less than 21°C within 2 hours and to 5°C or less within a further 4 hours. (Monitor with a clean and sanitised probe thermometer)

Keep fillings and sauces cold

• It’s easy to contaminate kebab ingredients such as hommus, tabouli and cheese. Only use such ingredients if they are properly refrigerated (at or below 5°C), packaged and labelled, particularly with date codes.
• Store potentially hazardous food (including dairy-based sauces) at or below 5°C. Check with a thermometer.
• The bacteria that cause food poisoning grow between 5°C and 60°C. This is commonly referred to as the 'temperature danger zone'. Keep cold food in the fridge until you are ready to cook or serve and serve hot foot steaming hot.
• Don’t leave foods in the temperature danger zone longer than 2 hours.
• Don't overload refrigerators, as this reduces cooling efficiency.
• Cover food in the refrigerator.

Separate raw and ready-to-eat food

• Separate raw and cooked food.
• Remember to wash your hands thoroughly in hot soapy water and dry them before preparing food and after touching raw meat, especially chicken, and other raw foods.
• Thoroughly clean all utensils, equipment, surfaces and tea towels after preparing raw food and before contact with other food.
• Store seafood, raw meat and chicken at the bottom of the fridge so they can’t drip onto other foods.