Sunday, May 12, 2013

TV chefs fail at basic hand hygiene

I have just watched famous TV chefs preparing demonstration dishes.  One worked in his kitchen, others in an outside setting.

In both cases, the chefs were handling raw meat with their bare hands and preparing salads and sauces.  At no point did the chefs wash their hands and of course, they were moving between raw meats, fresh vegetables and spices. 

Of most concern to me was the use of a towel.  Chefs often have a towel at their waist; they use it for wiping spills from plates prior to service.  On this occasion, the chef handled the raw meat and repeatedly wiped his hands on the towel.  The sauce was blended from fresh vegetables and was not cooked.  There were no hand washing facilities in the shot and the sauce vegetables were also handled with bare hands.  The potential for food poisoning is significant.

Now, perhaps the chefs really did wash their hands between handling raw meats and salads.  However, these are demonstrations for ordinary viewers.  They should be setting a better example and emphasising the necessity of hand washing.

2 comments:

Helen Baron-St John said...

This is a welcome article. Fans and 'foodies' will slavishly follow what they see so-called experts doing on television (even to the extent of adding unidentifiable froths to their creations)! TV chefs have a responsibility to demonstrate basic safe food handling techniques to their followers.

John Brooks said...

Thanks Helen.

I found another article on hand washing this morning in "Meatingplace". This one comments on the "Do it yourself vaccine" attributed to the US Army. See:
http://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/Blogs/Details/41517

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