Monmouthshire County Council, in partnership with the Food Standards Agency, is promoting Food Safety Week to highlight the importance of ensuring good food hygiene in the home.
Did you know there are some simple steps you can take in the home to prevent food poisoning from a range of bacteria like E coli 0157 and Salmonella? The bacteria which cause the greatest number of food borne illnesses in the UK are called Campylobacter. These are naturally present in the intestine of many animals and illness is commonly associated with undercooked meat (particularly poultry), contamination of ready to eat foods from raw meat juices and cross contamination from poor hygiene/handling practices.
Many cases of Campylobacter are reported and investigated but many more go unreported. In 2008, 55,000 cases were reported in the UK – the realistic number is more likely to be closer to 375,000.
In 2009 Monmouthshire County Council’s Environmental Health team investigated a total of 191 cases of food poisoning and in 141 of those cases the causative organism was Campylobacter.
Good hygiene in the home is vital all year but it is particularly important during the summer months, when levels of food poisoning soar as barbeques are dusted down and cooking food and eating outside becomes more frequent.
How can I keep food safe?
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that following simple principles known as The 4 C’s – (cooking, cleaning, avoiding cross contamination and chilling) will help to keep food safe.
Cooking – Proper cooking will kill food germs (bacteria). It’s especially important to make sure poultry, pork, burgers and sausages are cooked all the way through. If there’s any pink meat or the juices have any pink or red in them, bacteria could be lurking! Check your food is steaming all the way through before serving.
Cleaning & Cross Contamination – Clean hands are vital in the fight against food poisoning.
Avoiding cross-contamination, (preventing bacteria from spreading between foods and from contaminated surfaces or utensils) is also extremely important.
Make sure you store raw meat covered and at the bottom of the fridge, below and away from ready-to-eat food. Never use the same chopping board for raw meat and ready-to-eat foods without washing the board and knife thoroughly first.
Chilling – Food must also be kept cool. If it needs to be chilled keep it in the fridge, at the right temperature – between 0°C and 5°C. Storage above this range can allow bacteria to grow or harmful toxins to form.
On a picnic, don’t take food out of the fridge until the last minute and use a cool bag with ice packs to keep it chilled until ready to eat.
Remember – food poisoning is a miserable experience and is so easily avoided. Just following simple steps in the kitchen can mean you avoid becoming another food poisoning casualty.
Symptoms of Food Poisoning – Diarrhoea and/or vomiting are the main symptoms of food poisoning illnesses that can be transmitted through food;
Anyone employed as a food handler or working in a food handling environment must report these symptoms to management immediately.
Managers must exclude employees with these symptoms from working with or around open food, normally for 48 hours from when symptoms stop naturally.
This year’s Food Safety Week theme supports the Agency’s strategy for 2010-2015, which identifies reducing food borne disease, and particularly tackling campylobacter in chicken, as a key priority. During 2010, the Agency will be developing a new campylobacter risk management programme.
Although this new programme is expected to involve extensive work with industry to reduce the prevalence of campylobacter in UK-produced retail chicken, the promotion of messages about good food hygiene to consumers through initiatives such as Food Safety Week will remain an important factor in reducing human campylobacter infections.
