Eat at home - its probably safer

Jun 14 2005

Health officers in the UK say that some staff in restaurants they visited have what they term 'shocking' hygiene standards.

A survey has revealed that the officers found that out of 33 samples taken in premises in the Chalvey and Farnham areas of Slough, Berkshire, 30 contained "unsatisfactory" levels of bacteria, and "shocking" amounts of bacteria were found on the hands of staff in a town's restaurants.

A council spokesman says the report from the environmental health team is extremely disturbing.

The health officers will now be visiting premises in the town to educate workers about hygiene issues, and will carry out hand-washing demonstrations to show staff how to wash their hands properly. This will be part of National Food Safety Week.

The most concerning revelation to the environmental health team was that four samples showed the presence of faecal bacteria.

Ann Stewart, acting team leader for food and safety, says they are extremely concerned about this finding which shows that those four people had not washed their hands properly, if at all, after going to the toilet.

Duncan Buchanan, commissioner for public protection, says when there is heightened awareness in hospitals over MRSA, which is directly linked to low levels of personal hygiene, to find that workers in the food industry and especially takeaways are not following basic hygiene rules is very worrying.