Dr Lisa Ackerley is an environmental health practitioner. BBC Watchdog picked her brains on what to look out for when it comes to food hygiene in restaurants and hotels and how do deal with food poisoning at home and abroad.
Dr Lisa Ackerley's advice - understanding the bacteria which causes food poisoning:
Salmonella is a bacterium that causes food poisoning when people eat food contaminated by it. It is found on raw meat, poultry and eggs, and can be excreted by people and pests as well.
Illness is caused in a number of ways by foods such as meat and chicken not being cooked thoroughly, or undercooked egg dishes such as tiramisu or soft meringue dishes. Where food becomes contaminated, for example by someone touching raw chicken and then cooked ham, or chicken blood falling onto desserts, Salmonella can grow on these high risk foods if they are not stored at the right temperature.
The bacteria could be spread to food by someone who is carrying Salmonella, not washing their hands after going to the toilet, then touching ready-to-eat food which is then kept at poor temperatures for some time after contamination.
In the case of the First Choice Holiday Village resort in Turkey, in my opinion it is unlikely that a tourist alone, by touching food, could have caused reported illness on this scale over so many weeks; in any case, other poor hygiene factors such as food being kept too long too warm would have to take place.
Cryptosporidium is a water borne parasite usually caused by faecal contamination from mammals (including humans) entering the water supply or bathing water (sea or pools).
In the case of the First Choice resort, there have been outbreaks associated with drinking water and poor pool hygiene. If water becomes contaminated, then filtration is the most effective way to remove this organism, as chlorine alone won't work. If someone enters a pool whilst suffering from cryptosporidium, the pool water could become contaminated, but good filtration methods and pool management would generally keep the pool safe, particularly if the pool is closed if there is gross contamination whilst these measures are taken.
At the Holiday Village, Turkey, it appears that there have been a number of reports of cryptosporidium over many weeks, which makes it unlikely that it was one event that led to the problem, although there may have been a number of similar events. Certainly people suffering with diarrhoea should not go in swimming pools or spa baths.
Campylobacter is an intestinal bacterium found on raw chicken and meat. It is also carried by birds and pests. People get ill with Campylobacter from either eating under-cooked foods such as chicken, or by cross-contamination as described above (handling raw and then ready-to-eat food) via hands, utensils or during preparation or storage. Only a few bacteria are needed to cause illness and they do not usually grow on food. There have been very few reported cases of person to person transmission, and so in the case of the Holiday Village, Turkey, it is unlikely that a tourist who has not washed his hands would cause illness on the scale reported.
ABTA - the travel association - advise all holidaymakers who get sick on holiday to report illness to the rep and/or hotelier who can then put them in touch with a doctor. This way tour operators can monitor levels of sickness.
More ABTA tips:
Drink bottled water and use it for brushing your teeth. Ensure that the seal on the bottle is intact.
Avoid ice in drinks.
Make sure your food has been thoroughly cooked and is still hot when served.
Wash your hands before eating and after going to the toilet.
Make sure that any food that is re-heated is piping hot all the way through.
Avoid any uncooked food (apart from fruits and vegetables, food that can be peeled or shelled).
Footage ©BBC 2009
(Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/foodhygiene.shtml)
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