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Describes a survey of food safety training for staff in the retail, care and catering industry. Training provisions were evaluated against the guidance in the relevant industry guides. Additional information was collected on the managers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards hygiene training. The extent and level of training of the retail butchers, who had to comply with the licensing regulations, was better than care homes and caterers of an equivalent size. Some of the care homes were not compliant with the training requirements of the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations. There was a similar lack of hygiene management systems in most of the catering businesses in this study but senior staff were better trained and were able to provide in‐house training to greater effect. All the businesses carried out on‐the‐job training, although in some this was restricted to induction training, the content of which was often ill defined. There was a lack of documented hygiene procedures, reinforcement strategies and very little refresher training activity. Many managers failed to provide feedback on performance, to test hygiene knowledge or praise good hygienic performance. Half of the managers were not trained to train, and often were untrained in elementary hygiene themselves. Some managers recognised that conditions in the workplace and time pressures could contribute to poor hygiene performances.

Food events, such as food festivals, agricultural shows and village fetes take place throughout the UK, usually in outdoor locations. Consumers’ overall satisfaction with the food purchased at such events is high and they have few or no concerns about the food safety on sale. A wide variety of foods, including some high‐risk products are offered for sale to the public. The temporary nature of these events and the vagaries of the UK climate can mean that traders/exhibitors have to cope with environmental conditions that are less than optimum. Organisers of such events are expected by traders/exhibitors to be knowledgeable on a range of relevant topics such as temperature control, display of open food, handwashing facilities, free samples etc. Guidance for traders/exhibitors and organisers of such events is available from local authority Environmental Health departments, and can be found in the Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Markets and Fairs.

Young babies are vulnerable to food‐borne disease. Examines the results of a questionnaire survey of parents and carers in day nurseries to examine the practices used to sterilize feeding equipment, reconstitute infant milk feeds and prepare weaning foods. Reports on observations of infant feeding practices carried out in six day nurseries. Standards of food handling in the nurseries were high but there was a lack of knowledge about current food hygiene regulations. Parents generally complied with recommended techniques for sterilizing equipment and reconstituting infant feeds. Extensive use was made of convenience weaning foods but foods were also prepared in the home. Recommended cooling and reheating techniques were not widely used. Some potentially unsafe practices were used to transport reconstituted milk feeds or weaning foods.

An evaluation of staff food safety behaviour in 91 butchers’ shops was conducted using direct observation and questionnaires. The investigation focused on behaviour that could lead to cross‐contamination during the handling of ready‐to‐eat high‐risk products. It was found that the businesses lacked separate staff for handling cooked products but had separate equipment, surfaces and utensils for raw and cooked products. Equipment that was most likely not to be segregated included vacuum packers, film wrappers and chillers. Work routines appeared to provide many opportunities for contamination of hand and food contact surfaces. Unsatisfactory cleaning procedures were observed; the main defects being inadequate cleaning frequency, incorrect use of wiping cloths, improper use of cleaning chemicals, neglect of hand contact surfaces. The results are discussed in relation to the establishment of an effective HACCP system and recommendations for improving food safety behaviour that will control potential cross‐contamination are given.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the utility to consumers of hygiene disclosure schemes for eating places.

A sample of hygiene disclosure schemes operated by local authorities in the UK was examined for features that might be expected to influence consumer awareness and behaviour.

The survey revealed that schemes differed in the interpretation of scores, the extent of information disclosed, the communication channels used to disclose information and the amount of publicity provided for businesses and the public. The majority of schemes provide certificates which businesses are encouraged to display prominently. Hygiene inspection information is posted on the web sites of all the local authorities.

The number of schemes in this study was limited. A comprehensive evaluation of the current UK “Scores on Doors” schemes will have to take into account a large number of schemes with a very large number of variables, making its feasibility questionable.

The “Scores on Doors” schemes will only be successful if the public are fully aware of them and the schemes are well respected. They will have to be well publicised, to operate in an open, transparent manner and be consistent and fair. This study shows that, although the schemes have some features in common, there is considerable lack of consistency, particularly in the representation of scores as symbols.

Published evaluations of hygiene disclosure schemes relate to schemes operating outside the UK. This study examines some of the features of current UK schemes that will require consideration if a consistent nation‐wide scheme is to be developed.

The Women′s Royal Voluntary Service is a voluntary organization which plays an important role in providing food for the elderly in the community. Food Check is an internal audit system designed for WRVS food and hospital projects. It aims to provide the service with information on how well its many food projects comply with food safety law and food industry guidelines. The system consists of a Food Check Manual which establishes the standard against which food projects can be compared and measured. The manual is used in conjunction with an audit schedule which has a series of questions which require a positive or negative response. The WRVS holds training sessions for hygiene auditors which provide guidance on how to conduct proficient inspections. The benefits of regular hygiene audits for food project organizers include familiarization with the details of routine practices and procedures and the ability to provide enforcement officers with relevant documentation.

Reports the conduct of a survey of children′s packed lunches where nutritional adequacy and consumer acceptability of the meals was evaluated; and temperature history of the food during transport and storage was monitored with temperature data loggers. The meals were found to be held at unacceptable temperatures for prolonged periods. Meals held in chilled insulated satchels did not suffer temperature abuse. One‐third of the meals were assessed as nutritionally inadequate. Significant numbers of the meals were high in fat and sugar and deficient in protein, calcium, and vitamin C. The meals did, however, receive consistently high ratings for consumer acceptability. Provides recommendations for improving the nutritional quality and the microbiological safety together with a code of practice suitable for distribution to parents.

In both their enforcement and training role environmental health officers (EHOs) may influence businesses' attitudes to hygiene training. A survey was conducted to examine EHOs' experience and perceptions of the provision and effectiveness of food hygiene training in small food businesses. The results indicate that officers had concerns about the content and the delivery of hygiene courses and about the quality of other hygiene trainers. Officers use the industry guides to advise on training but receive limited guidance on the assessment of hygiene training in the workplace. The checking of training records was considered to be less important than the use of observation and questioning for assessing hygiene training effectiveness. Environmental factors, such as supervisor support and situational aids were judged by officers to be important factors in the implementation of workplace hygiene training. They reported low levels of formal refresher training and active support of training by management.

The purpose of this case study was to obtain information on the hygiene standards of food premises using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000.

Eight local authorities in South Wales were asked to provide the most recent food hygiene inspection of a named food premise in their area. The disclosed reports were assessed to determine whether they conformed to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Food Law Code of Practice and how useful they would be to the consumer seeking information on the hygiene standards of a food premise.

Five of the eight authorities provided full information. Most authorities supplied a risk grading for the premises. Reports ranged from completed comprehensive inspection protocols with full post‐inspection letters to a hand written, barely legible report that failed to adequately differentiate between legal requirements and recommendations. Without some training in food law and food hygiene it would be difficult for most consumers to interpret some of the reports.

The results of this case study have increased confidence that local authorities are now complying with the FOI Act. It raises concerns about the consistency, fairness and robustness of inspections.

If there is to be greater transparency about hygiene standards in food premises, regulators will have to take account of the public in their communications. The public will need to be educated about the inspection and enforcement process and any systems used to disclose inspection results.

The paper shows how FOI can be used to inform the public about food hygiene standards.

Reports on an evaluation of the food safety behaviour of 108 consumers conducted using direct observation and temperature measurements. Finds that safe cooking practices were used by the majority of consumers, although more than half of the participants cooked well in advance of consumption and few used any method to speed the cooling of cooked food. Some consumers used potentially unsafe practices such as transporting and storing food at the wrong temperature, holding cooked food at ambient temperature for prolonged periods and inadequate re‐heating. Identifies great potential for indirect and direct cross‐contamination during the preparation of food. Notes some disparity between observed food safety behaviour and self‐reported food handling practices.