Housewives ‘poorly informed about food safety issues’

HOUSEWIVES over the age of 45 who studied home economics at school are among the worst informed about food safety, research has found.

Only older men living alone and young singletons subscribe to the same low standards when it comes to food safety and hygiene.

The study, Novel Strategies for Food Risk Communication, found an unjustified level of confidence in their food safety knowledge among housewives aged over 45.

Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, chief public health specialist for the Food Safety Promotion Board, said: “The group that would be important in terms of being home-makers were found to deviate majorly from best practice when it came to food safety and hygiene.”

They had a misplaced confidence and had developed bad habits over time.

“What they had learned in school and from their mothers was no longer as relevant.”

Dr Foley-Nolan said this age-group were not always au fait with the best use of microwaves and fridges, that a microwave was often seen as a “magic box”, and was used willy-nilly so that food was not always adequately reheated.

She said fridges were seen as miracle workers in the belief that food left out on the counter for hours was fine once you put it in the fridge as a later stage.

Other problems included lack of knowledge about new bugs such as ecoli 157 and listeria, which can develop in salads left around for too long or inadequately washed.

Beef also posed more dangers nowadays, Dr Foley-Nolan said, due to greater use of minced beef, where bugs on the surface transferred throughout the meat during mincing.

People also needed to be aware that fruit imported from countries where water was in short supply was not always adequately washed.

Dr Foley-Nolan’s comments followed “New Insights”, a conference held yesterday which brought together food safety experts from Ireland and Britain.

The conference, organised by Safefood, also heard the results of another study, “Young People and Food: Adolescents’ Dietary Beliefs and Understandings.”

The study, led by Queen’s University Belfast, found young people equated healthy eating with dieting and weight loss and that despite being well informed about the long term dangers of a junk food diet, chips, chocolate and crisps are their favourite foods.

It found less than half of all girls aged 12-14 reported eating fruit and vegetables at least once a day; junk food was described as tasty, while vegetables were described as having no taste.