According to a recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, food safety training has been negatively affected by the present economic climate.

Apparently, basic safety training for food handlers which covers important rules for handling raw and cooked meat and reminders for washing hands and keeping surfaces clean is being cut. If this trend is true, it can only be bad news for public health.

This comes after the 2005 report into the E.coli O157 outbreak in South Wales by Professor Pennington, who stated that if there are holes in safety systems, tragedies will happen again.

It’s extremely vital that businesses handling food realise that basic safety training is a top priority as they are not only accountable to the public, but can also face prison sentences, reputational damage or be closed down as a result of negligence. If anything, food businesses should be spending more on training staff, not cutting back.

On 1 October, Wales will be first to implement the new Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, a rebranded version of Scores on the Doors by the Food Standards Agency. The scheme is being introduced to 102 authorities across the UK. However looking at the new version of the scheme, I still don’t think it does enough.

The biggest concern for me is that this scheme still won’t assess wholesalers. If you look at the highly publicised food poisoning outbreaks in the last five years, they all originate from this type of source. It’s ridiculous that wholesalers are not being evaluated under the new scheme, particularly those that supply food to the most vulnerable people – children in schools and the elderly in care homes. The Bridgend butcher incident in 2005, which affected over 100 school pupils and resulted in the death of  five year old, Mason Jones, is a prime example of this.

It should also be noted that the new scheme is likely to further increase the burden on Environmental Health Officers (EHOs). They are already overstretched – with limited time, people power and resources – checking the high risk establishments. This new scheme will continue to exacerbate the problem, with EHOs having to review every food outlet within the 102 council regions which have signed-up.

For me, this is nothing more than a rebranding exercise for the FSA. With wholesalers excluded from the scheme and their standards not being visible to the public and the purchasing departments of schools, care homes and hospitals; tragic incidents like Bridgend are sure to happen again.

I don’t know about you but when I go to a football match I have to get a cuppa and a pie at halftime.

A study at thirty of the major sports venues in the United States has shown that more than half the food stands and restaurants committed at least one “critical” or “major” health violation.

The study showed that at busy stadiums food is mass produced and corners are cut, which can mean that prepared snacks are not properly cooked or held at safe temperatures, allowing for the growth of dangerous bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus. In extreme cases, there was also evidence of rodent infestations.

As the football season kicked off this weekend in the UK, I’m sure there were plenty of fans flocking to the pie and pasty stands. This season, if you get the urge for a quick snack at half time, please make sure it’s thoroughly cooked and hot all the way through when served. If you don’t, the sweet taste of your team’s victory could easily be soured with a week of being ill.

All TV chefs have their own restaurants these days and when guests visit them they expect the sumptuous food that they see on Ready Steady Cook or Saturday Kitchen.

However, Antony Worrall Thomson’s gastropub, The Greyhound, was caught out last week with a one-star rating for food hygiene. Hardly the news you want to hear when you have booked to eat at a restaurant owned by your favourite TV chef.

Thompson has blamed Oxfordshire District Council’s Scores on the Doors system, saying that the one star scoring was all based on paperwork rather than looking closely at the state of the kitchen and dining areas.

However, the Scores on the Doors system is a recognised food hygiene rating system used nationwide to give consumers a better understanding about where is safe to eat. So, despite the paperwork involved, it is essential for all eateries to do their upmost and score highly.

This must be wake-up call for Antony Worrall Thompson, and for other famous chefs, as sometimes a big name doesn’t always guarantee the quality of food you see on the box.

(Source: veggiegardeningtips.com)

It isn’t a myth that the fresher the food is, the better it is for you and the nicer it tastes. Reading an article in The Times this week, I was pleased to see that many chefs are creating their own kitchen gardens to produce fresh ingredients.

Chefs at Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons and The Montague Arms Hotel are teaming up with top gardeners to produce the freshest fruit, vegetables and herbs. And to prove that this isn’t some marketing ploy, everything is picked in front of the guest’s eyes as they gaze out of the restaurant’s windows. One hotel has even installed a hen house in its grounds, only to see chicken orders at dinner decline as guest, become too attached to the hens.

It’s great that chefs are taking this approach as not only is it good for the environment, guests also know exactly where the ingredients for their meals are coming from. They can just relax and enjoy their food, knowing that it is the freshest it can be.

I am sure you will all remember the tragic E-Coli outbreak in the South Wales Valley, which resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy and 157 others falling ill. After an inquest of into the outbreak, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) pledged to roll out a Scores on the Doors system in Wales, designed to help customers decide where to eat and buy their food by grading restaurants and other food outlets on their hygiene levels following inspections.  The results of these inspections were expected to be available online by autumn this year.

Being a Welsh company and in the business of helping to keep people safe from food hygiene risks, I have been following this story closely and I was really disappointed to read that a full set of the Score on the Doors results would not be available until 2012.

Over 200 local authorities in the UK already have a grading system in place and it’s disappointing to see that Wales is falling behind in providing important information which could affect the wellbeing of the public. The implementation of the grading scheme in Wales has been far too gradual, meaning that the potential for outbreaks of food related illness is still a very real possibility.

Existing information on food outlets should be made available online immediately, rather than waiting for a full set of results to be published. Bacteria such as E-coli will always reside where conditions and food hygiene is poor, so it’s important that the public has access to recent inspection results. The public can use this to make informed and safe decisions about where to eat and which food suppliers to use, without having to wait for the full Scores on the Doors results.

It’s unacceptable for consumers to have to wait until 2012 to see inspection scores for their local food outlets. The FSA needs to work swiftly to ensure that up to date and accurate inspection results are available for the general public, bringing standards in line with the rest of the UK.

(Source: foxnews.com)

Back in August last year, I commented on the tragic story of a mother and her three year old daughter becoming seriously ill after contracting E-coli at a local fish and chip shop. This week in response to 2005’s outbreak of E-coli across schools in South Wales, resulting in the death of five year old Mason Jones, a consumer watchdog wants more funding to stop a similar E-coli outbreak from striking again.

Consumer Focus Wales has called for at least £2.5m to be spent on food safety to enforce European food hygiene legislation. This comes following a public inquiry into the outbreak which found that more still needed to be done and subsequently made 24 recommendations to local councils in the area.

I am all in favour of this proposal, but it is a massive shame that it has taken this tragedy to open the eyes of local councils to the dangers of food poisoning. E- coli isn’t like a virus that you can find a cure for; it is always going to be around. So it is important that consumers, food suppliers and authorities understand the principles of good food hygiene and are more alert to the dangers of not following them.

Jay Rayner is undeniably a very influential man in food. He is an author, television personality and food critic at The Guardian whose reviews can make or break a restaurant. As you can tell I am a bit of a fan.

But, I will admit that I was slightly disappointed when I read his latest piece. In the article he talks about his favourite eating experiences being in establishments which he himself describes as “scuzzy”. While the piece does mention the importance of food hygiene, he plays down the risk of food poisoning by saying:

“I work on the assumption that food – and, by association, the restaurants that serve it  – has to be trying bloody hard to kill you. Eating is not something you need insurance for. So denying yourself an edible pleasure just because you couldn’t safely remove someone’s appendix in the room in which it was prepared, seems just plain foolish, not to mention self-defeating.”

It is not my aim to scare people away from trying new foods or restaurants because you might get food poisoning. But I do feel that Mr Rayner has an element of responsibility to highlight the potential threats of it by advising people on how to protect themselves and not just take an ‘eat anything and hope you’ll be OK’ approach.

(Source:  www.teamsugar.com)

Unfortunately it looks like another celebrity has come down with food poisoning, this time model Jodie Kidd was taken to a Nepalese hospital with stomach cramps shortly after filming a BBC documentary.

Those of us who travel to countries like Nepal shouldn’t forget that standards of hygiene are generally low and the risk of food contamination is extremely high, mostly due to the sheer volume of water-borne viruses.

So, I’ve compiled some top tips for those of you thinking of travelling to Nepal in the near future:

1- Research what vaccinations you need and make sure you have them.
2- Don’t drink tap water or use it to clean your teeth.
3- Avoid eating food from street sellers as it’s probably not been prepared with treated water.
4- Nepal boasts a number of tempting Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Nepalese food outlets, just make sure the one you choose to eat at is clean and avoid peeled fruits.
5- Finally, should you need to see a doctor, medical facilities are limited and probably expensive, so make sure you take out sufficient travel insurance.

Both Jodie’s and Chipmunk’s cases of food poisoning just show that anyone, regardless of their celeb status and what country they’re staying in, can be susceptible to food poisoning if they’re not sensible about what they eat.

Jodie – we wish you a speedy recovery.

Teenage pop star Chipmunk has been unfortunate enough to catch food poisoning while on holiday in Jamaica. The singer was taking a much needed break ahead of his UK tour when he became unwell.

But don’t fear all you teeny boppers. Chipmunk is currently recovering well in a Jamaican hospital.

In light of Chipmunk’s misfortunes, I’d like to reiterate the importance of food hygiene on holiday with five useful tips to avoid food poisoning:

1. Eat in a clean environment. Whether you are staying in a 5-star hotel or backpacking in a hostel, if the place is poorly maintained or has evidence of pests in public areas then the parts you can’t see will probably be much worse.  For the sake of your holiday, it’s important not to compromise.

2. Make sure that you are the only thing that is pink and don’t accept undercooked foods.

3. Ensure that food is served hot not warm.  Your hotel may serve up a fantastic buffet with all the trimmings, but don’t feel you have to tuck into the food if it looks like it’s been left out for a while.

4. If the water quality in the area is suspect, be wary of washed salads and iced drinks. That Margarita on the beach may be a tempting offer, but waterborne bacteria can cause severe illnesses.

5. Outside the hotel, be careful of food in places where hygienic conditions are poor. Exploring a busy market or eating out to experience the authenticity of a destination may be exciting, but if that is followed by a visit to the local chemist or hospital then a holiday can be ruined.