People are putting themselves and their
families at risk of food poisoning because of bad habits
in the kitchen, a survey suggests.
Nearly half of the 1,000 adults questioned
did not know to cook burgers and sausages until no pink
remained.
The Food and Drink Federation also found
that many people fail to replace the kitchen sponge - a
breeding ground for germs - on a regular basis.
More than 79,000 cases of food poisoning
were reported last year.
The Health Protection Agency who collect
the data said many cases go unreported.
They estimate that infectious disease costs
the NHS £6 billion per year and accounts for 35% of all
family doctor consultations.
The survey, carried out for National Food
Safety Week, found that 12% of people only change or disinfect
their kitchen sponge once a month and 6% change it even
less often.
And a third of people admit to eating food
that is past its use-by date.
Four out of 10 respondents said they never
removed jewellery before preparing food and of those with
pets, 14% said they washed their pets bowls with their own
washing-up - risking cross contamination.
Food storage was also found to be a big
area of confusion.
Nearly half did not know they needed to
keep their fridge at 0C to 5C to store food safely.
And 16% store raw meat on the top shelf
of the fridge and a further 8% would store it anywhere -
risking the chance that juices could drip onto ready-to-eat
foods below.
Around one in six admit to not always using
separate chopping boards or only rinsing them in between
chopping up raw meat and vegetables.
The Food and Drink Federation are encouraging
people to be aware of the four Cs - cleanliness, cooking,
chilling, and cross-contamination.
Melanie Leech, FDF Director General said:
"Too many people are unwittingly putting themselves at risk
of a nasty dose of food poisoning by using a dirty sponge
to clean surfaces or mixing raw meats and ready-to-eat foods."
Under-reported
Prof Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor
of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, added: "The bad
news is that 79,283 cases of food poisoning is the tip of
a very unpleasant iceberg - many suffer in silence and are
too embarrassed to tell.
"The good news is that the four Cs prevent
them. A small price to pay for freedom from diarrhoea and
vomiting."
The Health Protection Agency has published
12 tips to help people prepare food more safely which includes
advice on precautions to take when barbecuing food.
Professor Peter Borriello, Director of
the HPA's Centre for Infections at Colindale, said: "Good
food is one of life's great pleasures.
"However, food-poisoning can be one of
our worst memories.
"If everyone washed their hands thoroughly
after going to the toilet, before and after handling food
and before sitting down to eat, we would see massive reductions
in a range of unpleasant infections including those caused
by campylobacter, salmonella and Norovirus."
"Apart from immunising their children against
disease, thorough hand-washing at appropriate times and
the safe storage, preparation and cooking of food are the
single most important things that people can do to protect
themselves and others from infection."
