Food Safety !

This is a civilized country and we expect strict hygiene to apply to all the food offered for sale, but it seems that the standard is not as high as we imagined.   On Australia Day the pork or chicken rolls from a bakery in Sylvania infected one hundred and seventy one patrons with Salmonella poisoning. Many required hospital treatment and it it simply fortunate that nobody died.  This was a well respected bakery that has traded successfully for many years - and the authorities are still trying to determine what went wrong to cause this disaster.

Then we had another Salmonella scare that became the main item on the nightly television news. Our two supermarket giants - Coles and Woolworths - pulled packs of ready to use salad ingredients off their shelves - and this was quickly followed by most other supermarkets with the warning that they may be tainted with Salmonella and they should not be eaten.  Customers were urged to return the packs for a credit.

What seemed amazing is that this involved dozens of brands with combinations of lettuce, spinach and similar "greens " washed and prepacked to simply be put on a dining plate.   It seems that it all came from one huge agricultural growing business located at Bacchus Marsh in Victoria.  The how and why this infection happened is still being investigated, but Salmonella poisoning can develop quickly - or in some cases it may take many days to appear - so we do not know what the final outcome will be.

These extreme cases make the headlines, but the New South Wales Food Authority has a shame file that names seven hundred and fifty businesses which it keeps under surveillance for dodgy health practices.   This includes restaurants which fail to keep raw materials refrigerated at the correct temperature to butchers who use sulphur dioxide to disguise old meat stock and make it appear fresh.

When we buy take away food or dine at a restaurant we usually take note of the appearance of the public area.   If it is sparkling clean we assume that similar conditions apply to the food preparation area, but unfortunately even the most fastidious kitchen can hide danger unless the staff working there maintain strict hygiene in their personal habits and stick rigidly to food preparation guidelines.

A careless employee who goes to the toilet and fails to wash hands before returning to food preparation or a person who mixes chicken and other meats on the same cutting board may set off a chain reaction - with disastrous results.   That is unlikely if the business employs trained chefs, but much of the food industry relies on casual staff and it is very important that whoever is in control lays down strict hygiene standards - and sees that these are met.

Food inspectors make regular calls and places with a bad reputation are kept under notice. Unfortunately, standards rely on the attitude of the proprietor.   In many instances the prevailing attitude is to make money and what is lacking is both the know-how to handle food safely and the dedication to deliver a safe product.   Many such businesses teeter on the very edge of legality and it is only the regular visits of inspectors that prevent them falling into the abyss.

No doubt this massive salad recall will put the spotlight on food standards.  The financial losses will be huge and new procedures will be required to ensure that it can not happen again.  It certainly delivered a clear warning that all is not well within the food chain that is essential to maintaining national food safety !