Food safety chiefs urge consumers to complain over poor hygiene standards
New research shows 53% of men and women are shy about speaking out if they are served unfit food, are given unclean plates and cutlery or find dirty toilets.
Yesterday the cross-border Food Safety Promotion Board urged consumers to help improve hygiene standards in Ireland’s catering industry by complaining more often.
“While standards are generally high in the catering industry, there are concerns over the sustained level of closure orders in the retail catering sector,” said Martin Higgins, from the board’s Safe Food campaign.
Since the year 2000 the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has issued 273 closure orders to force pubs, shops, restaurants and take-aways to shut for putting the public in grave danger by flouting hygiene laws.
Now the Safe Food campaign is encouraging consumers to complain to the establishment’s manager if they spot hygiene hazards or get bad food.
“Consumers can play their part by speaking out and this will benefit both consumers and the catering industry through even higher standards of excellence,” said Mr Higgins.
The campaigners also want consumers to ring the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on 1890-336677 if the complaint is unresolved or the matter serious.
Tell-tale signs of poor hygiene include staff with dirty hands; employees handling food without washing hands; and workers smoking near food.
Consumers can tell if food is unfit for human consumption if dishes are contaminated with chemicals like disinfectants, food contains foreign objects like air or insects, or “hot food” is not piping hot.
Safe Food said hygiene at catering outlets has become increasingly important as more people are “eating out” as part of their busy lives.
Research for Safe Food also showed cleanliness made good business sense as two-thirds of consumers shunned places they thought were unclean — and would also advise their friends not to go either.
The study into consumer attitudes to food safety was carried out for Safe Food by market researchers Amárach Consulting earlier this year.
The Safe Food campaign is being backed by the Government’s National Consumer Agency (NCA) as well as its counterpart in the North.
“Awareness of our consumer rights empowers us and I urge all consumers to seek high standards of hygiene and to speak out if they are not satisfied,” said NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald.
* www.safefoodonline.com
