Britain's food poisoning problem

The public is unwittingly playing "Russian roulette with food", an expert has warned.

Hospital admissions for food-related illnesses salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter have reached record highs in England, latest NHS data shows. And Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, told The Guardian that there would be more cases until the British public "wakes up" to the risk of food poisoning.

'Much more than a dodgy stomach'

Admissions for salmonella infections reached an unprecedented 1,468 in England between April 2022 and March 2023, equivalent to three admissions for every 100,000 people. Cases of E coli have also soared, and admissions for bacterial infection campylobacter last year reached more than 4,340, a rate of nine in 100,000 people – up from three in 100,000 in 2000.  

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While many people have suffered the "stomach cramps, nausea and rushing to the loo" associated with food poisoning, said Metro, for some, it "turn into something much more than a dodgy stomach".

In December, health officials announced that a person had died as a result of an outbreak of E. coli linked to an artisan cheese, with at least 30 confirmed cases across England and Scotland. That same month, the Food Standards Agency announced an investigation after more than 200 people became ill with a strain of salmonella "linked to poultry and eggs imported from Poland", said Sky News.

Experts are also trying to explain the overall rise in food poisoning cases. The FSA "puts it down to improved detection", said The Guardian. But Professor Lang told the paper that the increases had been fuelled by a "weakening of state attention and regulatory focus on food hygiene and safety". The problem has been "worsened by Brexit and local authority cuts, and a fragmentation of the system of food safety governance", he said.

The "squeeze" on local authority budgets and a worker shortage has seen the number of food standards officers fall by 45% in the last decade, said Metro, "leaving the sector stretched thin".

Tina Potter, head of incidents at the FSA, has also linked some cases to contaminated products being used in meals in restaurants and cafes. The watchdog is "asking local authorities to remind food businesses about the importance of good hygiene practices", she said in a food alert about last year's salmonella outbreak. 

'We can all keep ourselves safe'

Many people get food poisoning as a result of "food prepared or stored incorrectly at home", said the European Food Information Council, but "the good news is that many cases are mild" and "we can all keep ourselves safe" by following simple guidelines. 

"Our hands, kitchen utensils, and dishcloths all carry microorganisms", so handwashing and keeping food preparation surfaces clean is important. The non-profit organisation also advises keeping raw and cooked foods separate, because the former can contain invisible disease-causing microbes that can be transferred through practices such as "chopping salad vegetables with a knife that was previously used to chop raw meat".

Ensure that fruit and veg have been thoroughly washed, and that all meat and fish is fully cooked before eating. Cooked leftovers should be stored as soon as possible after cooling, in a fridge kept at between 0C and 5C, and consumed within two to three days.

If you do get food poisoning, said the NHS, "the most important thing is to have lots of fluids, such as water or squash, to avoid dehydration". Symptoms, which include nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and a high temperature, "usually pass within a week".