UK TV chefs 'fail on basic hygiene'
BBC News reports that Dr Layla Jader, of the National Public Health Service for Wales, said at the British Medical Association conference in Edinburgh that TV chefs are setting a bad example by failing to follow basic hygiene standards, and that programmes often did not wash vegetables before using them or separate uncooked meat from other food, raising the risk of food poisoning.
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"I really get frustrated, I've seen it so many times. They bring in the vegetables, they open the bag and they make the salad straight from unwashed vegetables. They do it for the sake of expedience, but these programmes are watched by millions of people.
"It's irresponsible. If they are going to do something that's not healthy they should say: 'We are in a hurry but please wash the salad and vegetables before you serve it'."
A spokeswoman for Ready Steady Cook said the programme followed the "very highest standards."
Celebrity Masterchef stated,
"Before contestants are allowed to cook they are thoroughly briefed by our qualified home economists on all aspects of hygienic food preparation. In addition they are also monitored whilst cooking as we take the health of everyone involved in the programme extremely seriously."
The problem is the highest standards sorta suck. And for the apologists who say that cleaning and handwashing occur off-camera … I doubt it. It’s easy to mention hygiene without preaching. Who wants to eat poop?
Mathiasen, L.A., Chapman, B.J., Lacroix, B.J. and Powell, D.A. 2004. Spot the mistake: Television cooking shows as a source of food safety information, Food Protection Trends 24(5): 328-334.
Consumers receive information on food preparation from a variety of sources. Numerous studies conducted over the past six years demonstrate that television is one of the primary sources for North Americans. This research reports on an examination and categorization of messages that television food and cooking programs provide to viewers about preparing food safely. During June 2002 and 2003, television food and cooking programs were recorded and reviewed, using a defined list of food safety practices based on criteria established by Food Safety Network researchers. Most surveyed programs were shown on Food Network Canada, a specialty cable channel. On average, 30 percent of the programs viewed were produced in Canada, with the remainder produced in the United States or United Kingdom. Sixty hours of content analysis revealed that the programs contained a total of 916 poor food-handling incidents. When negative food handling behaviors were compared to positive food handling behaviors, it was found that for each positive food handling behavior observed, 13 negative behaviors were observed. Common food safety errors included a lack of hand washing, cross-contamination and time-temperature violations. While television food and cooking programs are an entertainment source, there is an opportunity to improve their content so as to promote safe food handling.
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"I really get frustrated, I've seen it so many times. They bring in the vegetables, they open the bag and they make the salad straight from unwashed vegetables. They do it for the sake of expedience, but these programmes are watched by millions of people."It's irresponsible. If they are going to do something that's not healthy they should say: 'We are in a hurry but please wash the salad and vegetables before you serve it'."
A spokeswoman for Ready Steady Cook said the programme followed the "very highest standards."
Celebrity Masterchef stated,
"Before contestants are allowed to cook they are thoroughly briefed by our qualified home economists on all aspects of hygienic food preparation. In addition they are also monitored whilst cooking as we take the health of everyone involved in the programme extremely seriously."
The problem is the highest standards sorta suck. And for the apologists who say that cleaning and handwashing occur off-camera … I doubt it. It’s easy to mention hygiene without preaching. Who wants to eat poop?
Mathiasen, L.A., Chapman, B.J., Lacroix, B.J. and Powell, D.A. 2004. Spot the mistake: Television cooking shows as a source of food safety information, Food Protection Trends 24(5): 328-334.
Consumers receive information on food preparation from a variety of sources. Numerous studies conducted over the past six years demonstrate that television is one of the primary sources for North Americans. This research reports on an examination and categorization of messages that television food and cooking programs provide to viewers about preparing food safely. During June 2002 and 2003, television food and cooking programs were recorded and reviewed, using a defined list of food safety practices based on criteria established by Food Safety Network researchers. Most surveyed programs were shown on Food Network Canada, a specialty cable channel. On average, 30 percent of the programs viewed were produced in Canada, with the remainder produced in the United States or United Kingdom. Sixty hours of content analysis revealed that the programs contained a total of 916 poor food-handling incidents. When negative food handling behaviors were compared to positive food handling behaviors, it was found that for each positive food handling behavior observed, 13 negative behaviors were observed. Common food safety errors included a lack of hand washing, cross-contamination and time-temperature violations. While television food and cooking programs are an entertainment source, there is an opportunity to improve their content so as to promote safe food handling.
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This raises an interesting question for me ... do you think the people at Bravo's Top Chef are checking the food safety standards of their contestants? In their challenges, the cheftestants frequently cook for large groups of people. In Restaurant Wars, for example, I wonder if they have to go through an inspection process as a normal restaurant would. It's very rare that these shows demonstrate any sort of food safety practices and time constraints are always part of the competition.
In the days leading up to the July 4th holidays, my family watched more than one morning show featuring a guest chef invited to demonstrate way to make the best barbeque, dessert, etc. It was amazing how many times we witnessed unsafe food handling.
The food tv chefs are great but they should remove rings before baking or shaping dough. They cross contaminate and seldom have programs on using healthy options. They cook fatty high caloric foods that most people would love to eat but can't because of health problems. For those who can eat highly season cuisine that's good. They know when they are going to be taping so why not remove the rings and pull up the sleeves and cook clean and healthy. People are turning the channels because it goes against the basic hygiene of hand washing. If time is a factor than they should state that prior to cooking. Who eats all that food that the chefs cook?