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Are People in the Isle of Man gambling with their guts?

Monday, 10 June 2013

People in the Isle of Man may be putting their health at risk when cooking at home, if a new survey carried out in the North West of England by the Food Standards Agency is anything to go by. 82% of those asked admitted to one or more habits that put them at risk of food poisoning, including 23% admitting they would eat food that has been dropped on the floor and 22% not washing their hands properly before preparing food.

These kitchen horrors have been exposed at the start of Food Safety Week, which runs from 10 - 16 June. During the week, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, who will have a display in the Sea Terminal Waiting Hall, wants to get people in the Isle of Man thinking about food hygiene at home, by completing the new Kitchen Check. The Kitchen Check gets people to look at their own food preparation practices and will give them a score and some tips based on their answers.

The survey also reveals that 34% people don't check ‘use by’ dates, with 87% of them wrongly using the ‘sniff test’ and 62% just checking the colour – even though this will not always reveal whether food is safe to eat. Unlike ‘best before’ dates, ‘use by’ dates relate to safety and are based on scientific testing, yet 39% of those questioned said they would eat food after its ‘use by’ date – the most frequent food safety gamble admitted.

While admitting these risky kitchen habits, more than 85% said they are confident they get things right with food hygiene all or most of the time and 94% believe they’ve never given family or friends food poisoning. If they do fall ill themselves, only 6% of people consider whether the cleanliness of their own kitchen is the cause.

However, the survey also showed some encouraging examples – 97% said they wash chopping boards in between preparing raw and ready-to-eat food and almost 78% stick to the recommended 48 hours for keeping leftovers in the fridge.

Ivan Bratty, Food Safety Manager at the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, said:

‘By not washing their hands before preparing food at home, or ignoring ‘use by’ dates, people in the Isle of Man could be setting themselves and their friends or family up for a bout of really unpleasant illness. It’s encouraging though to see that the majority of people are concerned about food safety. We are using the Kitchen Check created by the Food Standards Agency to help people to think about what they do in their own homes and make it easier for people to be knowledgeable and confident about storing and preparing food.’

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