Most people, especially those working in the catering industry, understand the need for food safety and hygiene in preventing illness. However over 1 million people, every year, in the UK still suffer from some sort of food poisoning and of this 1 million over 20,000 require hospital treatment. People speculate that the reason this figure is still so high is that people know the rules but it is all too easy not to follow them.

One of the most common areas that people lack knowledge in the UK is the risk that is posed from fruit and vegetables. Generally people associate food poisoning with meat, but one of the biggest causes of food poisoning is often from vegetables. Often there is also cross contamination as people are less careful in changing boards and equipment when cooking with vegetables.

A chief scientist at the FSA is Dr Andrew Wadge has recently commented, “Unfortunately it is a rather common myth that vegetables cannot make us sick however there are many harmful bacteria in the soil and these are the cause of many food poisoning cases in the UK each year. Some food producers have excellent controls in place but it is really impossible to get rid of all contamination.

“It is important that people realise the importance of washing vegetables, and salads, before they eaten. The only time that you do not have to wash a salad or vegetables is if the packages marked as ready to eat.”

Ms Sanders has commented about this situation, “It is all too easy to violate this rule. Just think about how many times you have been in the supermarket and have eaten a grape without thinking twice. It only requires a few seconds of washing to remove the harmful bacteria from fruit that is something that I cannot recommend enough.”

In order to emphasise how important handwashing is to her students, Ms Sanders has a special gel which they can put on their hands after washing which will highlight any bacteria left when their hands are put under ultraviolet light. For most students this is a real eye-opener to how resilient bacteria are to washing your hands.

She also recommends that every kitchen has different sets of chopping boards. For example you should have one that is specifically allocated to cutting raw meat, and it is also important to make sure that you use a different board for different vegetables, especially if you are mixing cooked with uncooked.

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A “best before” date indicates when a food should be eaten by for optimum enjoyment. They are perfectly fine to eat after this date, but their texture and flavour many have started to diminish. The only exception to this rule is Eggs. On fresh foods however you will see a ‘use by’ date. This is because certain foods go off very quickly, such as meat, and eating these after the ‘use by’ date presents certain health risks.

Anti-waste campaigners have long argued that putting ‘best before’ dates on everything encourages people to throw food out if it has passed the date. The retail industry obviously disagrees, and says it helps the consumer and encourages them to rotate their cupboards. ‘Use by’ is obviously completely different, as eating out of date meats, soft cheese or dairy products can be risky health wise.

When you see food products labelled with ‘sell by’ and ‘display until’ dates they are for the retailers only, who face hefty fines if found to be selling food after these dates. The Foods Standards Agency admits that there is much misinterpretation of the labelling. Fresh food in particular may go off before its ‘use by’ date if it isn’t stored correctly.

Many foods that are meant to be kept refrigerated at all times are often left out on benches etc and allowed to warm up. They are then returned to the fridge and the contrasts in temperature cause the food to deteriorate much quicker, so they may become unsafe to eat before their ‘use by’ date.

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The government does not seem to care that the European Union has placed a five-year ban on the production of such products, saying that it would prohibit the cloning of animals for the express purpose of manufacture.  However, they have not gone so far as to say they consider the products to be any sort of risk.

Meanwhile, the FSA finding shows that the British government is not concerned with the cloning of animals for such purposes.  Many people wonder if this is going to lead the way for the selling of such products from cloned animals in UK shops.  If indeed, it does, others wonder if there will be any labelling done by which to inform the purchaser that the products come from a lineage of cloned animals.

It is predictable that, since the FSA finding says that there is no discernable difference and no extra risk from the consumption of such products, no one will see a need to require labelling.

Many farmers interviewed in recent studies say that they consider cloning just another sort of reproductive method on a scale with artificial insemination.  However, vast segments of the public express concerns with consuming such products and polling shows that many would not purchase products revealed to be from cloned animals or their lineage.

The debate rages on with the man in the street, but the recent documents coming out of the Food Standards Agency attest to the position of the British government.

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Many of the new meals are designed to be easier to travel with and allow them to give precious boosts of energy to troops while on patrol.  The kosher meals will be very much like general rations, and will be boiled in a bag meals with meats and vegetables.

Ministry of Defence spokesmen say that it is difficult to give a detailed accounting of how many Jewish troops serve in the armed services, as they do not at all times identify themselves as such when filing records.  Still, even if it were only one, we should do our best to accommodate the need for Kosher food supplies, say authorities.

Spokesmen for the troops say that they will appreciate the Ministry of Defence doing this very much.  It means a lot to our service people as it supports the notion that their desires are being respected and that they are more than just numbers to the Ministry, but real people with genuine concerns and beliefs.

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The news caused headlines to cry out that ‘supercalves’ were now being used within the diary industry.  It was claimed later that hundreds of cloned cows were found in farms throughout the UK.  The headlines claimed that meat from the cloned animals would soon fill up the meat shelves at grocers.

Although one might expect the FSA to lash out with a sense of calm, it instead announced that any items from a cloned animal should be thought of as a novelty item and thus would need to be approved by the FSA before it was sold and that they simply had not given permission.

However, the EU responded by saying that approval for the goods was not needed and that milk could be sold from the animals without any need to tell the authorities.

With this interpretation in mind, the milk and meat from cows could be all over the place without people being aware of the fact.

Grahame Bulfield, the past director of Roslin Institute where the first sheep was cloned, stated that the FSA is simply making itself look ridiculous because it cannot actually prove that cloned meat or diary is being used in any way or is in fact different than any other type of meat that may be consumed.  He added that since there is not any evidence, it must be the same.

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Yesterday health specialists warned that any proposal to enforce regulation on confectionary makers and drinks in return for money was the same as bribery.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, revealed new plans that would include the companies giving cash for the Change4Life campaign run by the Government in which a serious of advertisements are being launched to encourage the public to keep healthy by eating healthy.

In return, Lansley promised that firms will not have to worry about too much regulation.  Despite this fact, food industry companies have not yet offered much money for the campaign which has caused critics of the move to warn that junk food manufacturers are getting off the hook without actually being forced to offer something in return.

Doctors have already responded negatively responded to Lansley’s plans stating that the campaign will do little to help a problem that is quickly rising in intensity which can be seen in people’s health.  Lansley also called the healthy school meal movement by Jamie Oliver  a bomb which stirred up a bit of controversy.

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NICE, the official health watchdog, has asked for a veto on the fats that are the culprits often blamed for clogged arteries, high cholesterol, and heart attacks. However, Andrew Lansley the Health Secretary has decided not to follow the advice and instead chose the food industry arguing that the ban is not necessary at this time.

In a separate announcement Lansley also stated to the British Medical Association (BMA) that the Government should not be responsible for any legislation enforcing diet or health issues.  He continued to explain that it is not the Government’s place to lecture people on their eating habits and that even efforts by Jamie Oliver to tackle poor eating habits in children has failed.

The NICE on the other hand continues to argue that a ban on trans fat is necessary in order to combat up to 40,000 deaths every year that are linked to medical causes of high salt, fat, and sugar that comes from junk food.

NICE stated that it is known that fatty acids that make up trans fat pose a large health issue to many, and although many food companies have made some efforts to remove the fats from their products, there is still a large population that continues to consume much more of these elements on a regular basis than there should be.

The health watchdog also stated that it is important that all social groups are aware of the dangers of IPTFAs.

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The flagship restaurant located near Leicester Square on Coventry Street pleaded guilty in 2008 after inspectors received numerous complaints.  Upon their visit, inspectors found a cockroach sitting on a chip near where the tongs sit to serve food and takeaway boxes, and dried chicken blood and a dead mouse lying on the floor, and that within the food preparation area there were not any hand wash dispensers fitted.

Head of health, food, and safety at the Westminster City Council, Richard Block, stated that the hygiene standards were unacceptable and appalling especially for a resultant the with the statue of the flagship KFC who should know better.

Block continued to say that the restaurant industry is a very key part of the economy and that they will not put up with any behaviour that would threaten the health and safety of the visitors.  He added that hopefully the fine will send a signal to all restaurant owners that they will take action against any outlet that sacrifices the health of its diners while they eat.

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To further stress their concern, the consumer group sent a jam doughnut out to every MEP and even one to the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in order to ask them to reconsider the removal of nutrient profiling.

The Safety Committee has already got behind the deletion of nutrient profiling, but in order to become effective it will also need to be supported by the EU governments and the full Parliament.

A spokesman for the UK Government said that Britain will endorse the move if it comes up.

Which? is not only concerned about nutrient profiling, but is also advocating that the legislation tightens up their view on unhealthy foods such as doughnuts and pork sausages so that they cannot make any claims to health under the new EU law.

Chief executive of Which?, Peter Vicary-Smith, stated that when unhealthy foods such as doughnuts are allowed to make claims of being a healthy food then it is time to revisit the topic.  Smith continued to say that removing nutrient profiling would be in essence like tossing a newborn into a vat of bath water and expecting it to swim.

Under the new FSA traffic light system, Which? claims that many foods that are high in sugar, salt, and fat would receive a high health rating despite their actual harm.

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Different manufacturers and retailers using different codes and standards make it hard for a buyer to figure out whether the product they are buying is healthy or not, and what percentage of daily nutritional needs it supplies.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the U.K. has determined that the best-understood method of labelling uses the ‘traffic light system’, in which the colours red, yellow and green are related to high, medium and low levels of ‘unhealthy’ ingredients.  They are calling for a single industry standard that would also include the GDA (guideline daily amounts) percentage contained in each serving of the product.

The FAS says that initially two of the three elements should be included in the label, hopefully making the transition to universal labelling easier for both manufacturers and consumers.  They are trying to respond to customers’ wishes while allowing enough time for the businesses involved to make the adjustment.  Their proposal will be submitted at an open board meeting on March 10^th.

According to Clair Baynton at the FSA, even though the U.K. is a world leader in food package labelling, there is still a lot of confusion on the part of consumers.  However, the change to a single standard may have to wait for the rest of Europe to reach a similar decision.  The British Retail Consortium said that until such time it would be too costly and confusing for the U.K. to enforce its own official standard.

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