Introduction
Have you ever had food poisoning or looked after someone who has? If you have
you will know what an unpleasant illness it is, and you are probably aware that
in some cases it can kill.
This course is designed to help you play your part in preventing food poisoning and food-borne disease in the people who eat the food that you prepare, handle or serve. Although you may be reading this now because you work in the food industry, it is hoped that you will be able to apply the things you learn to your domestic life as well. Indeed, good food hygiene is a state of mind and not something that can be put on, like an overall, just whilst at work and then neglected outside the food shop, factory or restaurant. Good food hygiene is really part of good citizenship, our responsibility to others.
What This Section is About
This part of the course is intended to give you background information about
food poisoning and food-borne disease in England and Wales; what it is, how
often it occurs, its symptoms and causes. In this section you will find some
Latin names for food poisoning bacteria (germs) that you may not have seen before.
There is no need to panic! There are not all that many to learn and in the tests
you will not need to spell them.