Food Poisoning – an illness on the rise
The incidences of food poisoning have been increasing in Britain, and elsewhere, in recent years. Ever wondered why?
There are several reasons:
- more intensive farming methods
- contaminated animal feed
- more opportunities for breakdown in control of the supply process as food is cooked or partly cooked before reaching the consumer
- people now eat out more
- people don’t buy and cook food on the same day like they used to; more often they buy food in bulk and store it without always being aware of the correct way to store and prepare the food
Some factors contributing to the increased health risks from food include restaurants, cafés, take-away food outlets and food manufacturers. And the reasons for this are:
- ineffective monitoring of temperatures
- poor staff hygiene awareness
- cross-contamination of food as a result of poor practices
- management’s lack of hygiene awareness
When you eat out, you have to trust that the place is using good practices, but when you’re at home you have the control to put good practices in place.
This is Chapter One, Part Two in a series of articles broadly similar to the course offered by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health for its Food Hygiene Certificate.
Part Three: Sources of food poisoning
Return to the start of Chapter One
