Good hygiene tips for the catering industry

The production and preparation of food inevitably involves the handling of ingredients by staff members. This in itself presents multiple risks to the end consumer of the product. Inadequate hygiene among those handling food stuffs is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. Contamination with specific, and very nasty, illnesses such as salmonella, E. coli and shigella can arise from unwashed hands and represents a serious hazard to human health. The NHS reports that in the UK, food poisoning is to blame for an estimated 20,000 hospitalisations and 500 deaths every year.*