Cleanliness and Personal Hygiene –The Mantra to Prevent Food Poisoning

Food poisoning posed a great danger in terms of life and money. It has been one of the leading causes of death among the scots. According to the statistics it was found that the number of cases rose by 6% last year . About 7147 Scots are affected by food poisoning every day. But the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (Rehis) said that this was not the real figure as many cases were not reported. He said that the number of cases accounted to about 70,000 each year. Lauder Nursery in Dunfermline, Fife, had an outbreak of an E-coli O157 infection which left five children in hospital. Since then it was closed for five weeks. But after the premises were investigated by health experts it was planned to reopen.

In another incident of food poisoning about 136 passengers fell ill in the Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (Black Prince). Rehis has urged the Scots to improve their kitchen hygiene standards as it is seen as the only way to prevent food poisoning incidents. John Stirling, Rehis president, said that food poisoning lead to serious illness, especially in young children, the elderly and those with existing medical conditions.

He also gave importance to the 4Cs for Food Safety that is cleanliness of hands and all materials in contact with food, and washing of food eaten raw; cooking thoroughly, to kill bacteria, chilling to store foodstuffs safely and cross-contamination of cooked produce by uncooked food.

The Lauder Nursery in Dunfermline was operated by Careshare and is on the campus of Lauder College. The doctors believe that the source of infection is an external one which was bought into the nursery. Doctors said that the E-coli strain that resulted in the infection made it harder to identify. Jonathan Bell, Careshare's managing director, said that parents and children need not fear about the health safety as all measures have been taken to prevent any further food poisoning incidents.