Click on the link to access the Care Inspectorate document which contains the following information plus more including web links for further information.
Ways to prepare food so that it’s safe
• Remove any stones or pips before serving.
• Quarter (length ways) small fruit and vegetables like cherry tomatoes, grapes and blackberries.
• Cut large fruits into slices rather than chunks.
• Think twice before offering very young children hard, slippery or sticky foods. If serving, these should be cut into small pieces.
• Peel the skin off fruit, vegetables and sausages (although remember that sausages can be high in salt).
• Cook hard or stringy vegetables such as green beans and carrots until they are quite soft for use as finger foods, rather than offering them raw.
• Remove bones from meat or fish.
Watch out for small round food items
Children under four years old can choke on these things – avoid them.
• peanuts
• boiled sweets
• hot dogs
• chocolate eggs with small toys inside
• raw carrots
• popcorn
• nuts (whole peanuts should be avoided until the age of 5)
• sweet items such as mini eggs
• raw jelly cubes, they can get stuck in the throat.