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.

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.

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.

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.

This morning, our very own Jason Burnett, appeared on BBC Radio Manchester advising the public on the importance of food safety at Christmas. For those who missed Jason’s interview, or are from different areas of the country, you can catch his appearance again on iPlayer:

Click here to listen to the interview.

Source: www.devon.org.uk

I read an article this week discussing whether the formal dinner party is dead.  Apparently, we are starting to favour informal communal buffets where each guest brings a dish and everyone helps themselves.

This means that the responsibility for providing safely cooked meals no longer lies with the host, but with any guest who brings food along.

So, here are some top tips to ensure your guests don’t bring tasty treats with them and take food poisoning home:

1. Try not to leave buffet food out for any longer than four hours.

2. Keep any chilled foods that you’re offering to guests at or below 8oc  and any food that needs to be kept hot at or above 63oc.

3. Any leftovers from your dinner party should be thrown away or stored in a fridge.  Those left out for a long period of time at room temperature are a breeding ground for food poisoning bacteria.

4. Provide separate tongs for serving different foods such as meat, salad and vegetables to prevent cross contamination.

5. Jam pastries, pickles and cakes, so long as you follow good food hygiene practices, are least risky in terms of food poisoning, so you could just stick with these, but it would mean a pretty unhealthy buffet for all!

We have previously discussed on this blog the Michelin starred restaurants which have been caught out with regards to food hygiene. Well, it appears another one has failed the health and safety test.

A two-star Michelin restaurant in Canterbury, Kent, was rated a one star for its food hygiene by health inspectors, putting it below a local elderly day centre cafe. While the lowest possible ranking is zero, a single star does mean “a poor level of compliance with food safety legislation – much more effort required.”

And, what is the reason for this low score, I hear you cry; well according the restaurant manager they were going through the process of changing health and safety consultants at the time of the inspection in February. Personally, we feel this is a pitiful excuse. Hygiene standards should always be the top priority if you own/work in an establishment that serves food to the general public.

It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how much you are spending on the meal, you shouldn’t take standards for granted. You could be safer eating food cooked in a greasy spoon or a day care centre, than from a high-brow restaurant.

We, at Check Safety First, are pleased to announce that we have partnered with the British Embassy in Tunisia to protect British holidaymakers visiting the area from the threat of salmonella.

Each year 40,000 British holidaymakers travel to Tunisia for their annual getaway, but only a handful of these consider the health and safety standards of the resorts they are staying in. So, we have teamed up with The British Embassy in Tunisia to help provide English tourists with a safer environment to holiday in.

It is essential that holidaymakers push hygiene further up their wishlist of requirements when choosing a holiday venue. You wouldn’t get your boiler fixed by an engineer that wasn’t CORGI registered, so why stay in a hotel that can’t demonstrate its commitment to keeping you safe while you are on holiday?

By working together, the Embassy will be able to provide holidaymakers with advice on how to stay safe when travelling in Tunisia, and recommend hotels within the region that have achieved exceptional levels of hygiene. This will help ensure that everyone comes away from the country having enjoyed their well earned vacation.

A recent survey into public attitudes towards food by the Food Standards Agency revealed a shocking truth that more than half of people would eat meat that was past its use by date, essentially playing Russian roulette with their health. Meat is a good breeding ground for bacteria, such as Salmonella, and for this reason manufacturers put ‘use by dates’ on the packaging to protect consumers from this risk. It is surprising how many people are ignoring this.

Ironically, the survey also found that health is the top priority when consumers are out shopping for food. So it seems that consumers want healthy food, but will eat meat past its use by date…

With regards to food safety when eating out, less than 20 per cent were aware of the national ‘score on the door’ scheme across England, Wales and Northern Ireland launched by the FSA in December last year. But thankfully, two thirds of the people surveyed said that they would not eat in a restaurant of cafe that had poor general cleanliness.