Food-borne illness can be avoided - indeed this whole course is really about how to avoid making your customers ill! The shocking thing is just how many people become ill because they are served with contaminated food. In 2005 there were 70,311 cases of food poisoning recorded officially in England and Wales. (Case "a person suffering from a food poisoning")
So there are over 70,000 reported cases of food poisoning every year BUT that is not the whole story. Experts agree that many cases go unreported and that the real figure may be nearer ONE MILLION cases a year. That is a lot of pain, suffering and misery, and for certain groups of the public, food poisoning can be a matter of life or death. The very young, the elderly, pregnant women and those already ill from some other condition are particularly at risk. Every year a number of such vulnerable people die from food poisoning. All this shows just what a responsible job being a food handler is.