Diners Don't Want To Be Served An Illness
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday May 7, 2008
WITH about 5.4 million cases of food-borne illness in Australia each year, most of us have had the unpleasant experience of eating something dodgy and suffering the consequences.
It is estimated that contaminated food from restaurants, commercial caterers, bakeries, takeaway outlets and franchise fast food chains was the likely culprit for 65 per cent of reported food poisoning outbreaks in Australia in 2006.And while most of us will escape with little more than an upset stomach and a day in bed, for some consumers children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with illnesses that affect their immune systems the consequences of eating contaminated food can be devastating, even deadly. An elderly man died this year after eating contaminated asparagus sauce at a reputable Sydney eatery.If you've ever watched an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares you'll know that running a restaurant is no easy task. When we eat out we assume that the people preparing our food know how to do so safely and that someone is keeping tabs on hygiene standards.But reports in last week's Herald suggest that in Newcastle at least, consumers shouldn't be so complacent. The primary objective of food regulation in Australia is to protect public health and safety and local councils are supposed to carry out restaurant inspections and provide detailed reports on hygiene standards good and bad. If you knew that your favourite eatery stored food on the floor, prepared it in a toilet area or had a cockroach problem, you'd probably give it a wide berth. But it is not easy for unsuspecting diners to find out if a restaurant has a filthy kitchen or if it even passed its last health inspection. Most hygiene inspection information isn't made public until after a conviction or a fine is issued, usually when it is too late.Australians are mostly left in the dark about these things, but if you are travelling to parts of the US, Canada, England, Denmark or even New Zealand you can find information on the hygiene of food premises readily: on websites and displayed in the outlets themselves using grades, scores, smiley faces, traffic lights, inspection results and even awards for excellent food safety practices.Choice wants a similar system here so that Australian consumers can make informed choices about where to eat. Not only would this mean that we can all reduce our personal risk of getting food poisoning but it would also encourage restaurants and cafes to improve standards, as well as reward those venues that achieve and maintain high levels of food hygiene.Newcastle City Council and the NSW Food Authority can't afford to wait for a local tragedy before they improve the inspection practices. Novocastrian diners deserve a better deal than that.Clare Hughes is the senior food policy officer for Choice magazine.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald