Moving the Christmas ham from the fridge to the freezer after more than two days and keeping food the same temperature as your beersies when camping could help keep food poisoning at bay this summer.
Although food safety was more or less common sense, but it was easy for people to forget the basics during the silly season, particularly when they were away on holiday, Professor Steve Flint, Massey University's food safety and microbiology expert, said.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and Ministry of Health, recommend following the "three Cs" - clean, cook, chill - to reduce the chance of getting sick.
Dr Caroline McElnay, director of public health at Ministry of Health, said the food safety was something authorities took very seriously.
According to ESR's Annual Report of FoodBorne Disease in New Zealand, four Kiwis died from food poisoning in 2015.
MPI's website states Kiwis suffer from about 200,000 cases of food poisioning every year - that's more than 500 a day.
Figures specifically for the Christmas and New Year holiday period were not provided by deadline.
But Flint said the risk of food borne illnesses increased as the weather got warmer.
"When you've got warm temperatures that means that the bacteria in the food are going to grow faster then they would in the middle of winter."
Holiday makers also often didn't have access to fridges and freezers, making it difficult to keep food cool.
Ideally, Flint said, those going camping would keep themometers in their chilly bins and in meat left on the barbecue to make sure stored and cooked food was at an appropriate temperature. But in reality no one did this.
Cooler packs in chilly bins needed to be swapped out regularly.
"If [people] think about how they like their beer and their wine, their food should be maintained in a similar condition," said Flint.
"If by chance you can't keep your food as cold as you'd like it's better to actually do a run to the shop more frequently than trying to store food for a long period of time."
Fridges in people's homes also tended to be warmer than they should be and overly full at Christmas time - because of the difficulty to keep food cool Flint said it was better to freeze high risk foods like ham after about two days.
Poultry, shellfish and raw foods were of concern and New Zealanders also needed to take closer care when preparing salads.
Lettuce was a raw material that should be washed thoroughly and kept separate from raw meat.
Camplyobacter - often found in undercooked chicken - is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in New Zealand.
Other foodborne micro-organisms that can make people sick include listeria, e coli, salmonella and staphyloccocus aureus. Most of these are spread through animal products kept at between five and 60 degrees celsius.
Elderly people, young children, pregnant women and those with low immune systems are most at risk of serious illness or death from food poisoning.
A good way to tell if food had gone off, he said, was to use your senses of smell, sight and touch.
Food should feel cold when it came out of the chilly bin or fridge, an unsual or bad smell was often a sign it had gone off and a slimey feel indicated the presence of micro-organisms.
Food safety tips
• Wash your hands well with soap before preparing food or eating and after handling raw meat and poultry
• Clean surfaces and utensils before preparing food
• Cover food with plastic wrap, foil or in a secure container before storing
• Separate raw and cooked foods during prep and storage
• Keep raw meat and chicken away from ready-to-eat food
• Cook chicken, pork and sausages right through - pork and poultry juices should be clear
• Freeze or refrigerator leftovers within two hours
• Reheat leftovers to at least 75C
• Use cooler packs in your chilly bin