In the latest in a series of excerpts from EUFIC's guide to food safety and hygiene "From Farm to Fork", we set out some of the simple yet highly effective measures consumers can follow to prevent foodborne diseases. Even with the efforts all the participants along the food chain, from farmers to manufacturers and retailers, to guarantee food safety, the consumers' role is critical.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that diseases borne by bacteria are the greatest threat to food safety. Public opinion surveys show that consumers are increasingly aware of the danger of microbial contamination. As the WHO puts it, "outbreaks of foodborne diseases can be reduced if both professional and domestic food-handlers understand the importance of correct hygienic food practices. Health education is one of the most effective means of reducing the problem".

Good Hygienic Practices - the basics:

• Hands and dish and kitchen cloths should be washed frequently, and kitchen surfaces should be kept clean to prevent cross-contamination. Obviously, insects, rodents and other pests should be kept away from foods as well as pets, which are a little known but frequent source of food contamination in the home. To prevent contamination from raw foods, cooked foods should be kept separate from uncooked foods while preparation surfaces and utensils should be washed between uses for different foods. Particular care should be taken when preparing meat and poultry to prevent the spread of salmonella e-coli, etc. Storage areas and surfaces should be kept dry so microbes do not have the moist environment they need to breed.
• Another key step to ensure food safety is maintaining the correct temperature during storing and cooking. Frozen and chilled foods should be selected at the end of shopping and placed in a freezer or refrigerator as soon as possible. Consumers should not forget that refrigerators and freezers need to be kept at the correct temperatures to do a proper job of storing food safely: +5oC for refrigerators and - 18oC for freezers.
• As microbes need time to multiply to reach dangerous levels, consumers should observe "best before" and "use by" dates. Out-of-date products in shops should be reported to the store manager. If packaged food has gone off before the "best before" date it should be returned to the store.
• Consumers must take care when preparing foods in order to prevent bacteria multiplying. Instructions must be closely followed on how long and at what temperature foods must be cooked while leftovers should be heated until piping hot.
• Consumers can also play an important role in ensuring food safety in public places as well as at home. If food in a restaurant or other public place smells, looks or tastes odd, it should be returned. If they spot safety problems in foodstuffs they should report them to retailers or caterers who can take measures to prevent this in the future.
• In addition, extra care needs to be taken to ensure food safety for people whose natural defences to microbes are lower than average such as pregnant women, young children, or the elderly.

FOOD TODAY 06/1998