Consumer health - Precautions can ensure food safety

SUMMER time barbecues and rising temperatures inevitably bring warnings of food poisoning, which the catering industry and consumers will ignore at their peril.

According to the latest bulletin from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), food poisoning incidents are on the increase.

This represents a timely wake-up call for the production, processing and catering business. It is a pointed reminder of its major legal responsibility to protect consumer health. From an average of 17 notifications of salmonellosis a month between January and April, the incidence of food-borne illness trebles to about 50 a month for the warm period of May to September.