Britons heed food safety message

The food hygiene message is filtering through

The number of recorded food poisoning cases has dropped by 17,000 over the past four years thanks to increased hygiene awareness, a survey says.

The Food and Drink Federation's Foodlink survey showed the number of recorded cases has reduced to 78,921 from 96,000.

The survey says 88% of Britons now wash their hands after handling raw meat - a rise of 9% on 2001.

And 81% always wash before handling food, but 29% do not always use soap.

Preventing food poisoning is not rocket science; it is largely down to common sense Hugh Pennington University of Aberdeen

The survey, run in conjunction with food standards agencies, also found that 47% of Britons do not always wash their hands before eating lunch at work - the federation says there are 400 times more bacteria on the average workstation than toilets.

Hugh Pennington, Professor of Bacteriology (Emeritus) at the University of Aberdeen, said: "It's great that reported food poisoning cases have dropped but it is still 78,921 too many.

"And we know that many other cases go unreported, so we shouldn't be complacent.

"Preventing food poisoning is not rocket science; it is largely down to common sense."

'Great news'

Martin Paterson, the federation's deputy director general, said: "Since our first survey on Britain's hand washing habits, reported cases of food poisoning have come down, and that's great news.

"However, while our new survey shows that people are getting better at preventative actions such as washing hands after handling raw meats, there are still too many cases.

"Foodlink, along with thousands of local event organisers across the UK, will continue to raise awareness of this important public health issue aiming to continue to bring the number of cases down."

National Food Safety Week, with the slogan "Stop, Think, Wash!", runs from 13 June.