I am a Food Safety Inspector..... Ask me anything!

[Summersun111]

For a large cosmopolitan city!

Ask me anything....

[HebeMumsnet]

Morning, everyone. We're going to move this thread over to the new AMA section shortly.

[ShovingLeopard]

Dead mice in the kitchen

[Summersun111]

whyaretheyallcalledwillow

Do you think that norovirus, caught elsewhere, is responsible for most cases of what people think is food poisoning?

In my experience, people blame what they just ate or something they thought was “dodgy” yesterday, rather than the person with the virus they came into contact with 24-48hrs before

yes 100%, it is very common for people to make the assumption that the last meal they ate caused food poisoning which is often not true and as you mentioned viruses such as nora virus are more prevalent and more likely to be the actual cause!

[whyaretheyallcalledwillow]

Do you think that norovirus, caught elsewhere, is responsible for most cases of what people think is food poisoning?

In my experience, people blame what they just ate or something they thought was “dodgy” yesterday, rather than the person with the virus they came into contact with 24-48hrs before.

[Summersun111]

ShovingLeopard

Does what you see as part of your job put you off eating out?

Answer- yes very much so, I have closed a famous persons restaurant (very posh) before for finding dead mice in the kitchen- I would have never guessed it was that bad as a customer!

[Summersun111]

tectonicplates

What exactly happens when you report a restaurant to Environmental Health for giving you food poisoning?

honestly? Not an awful lot. The majority of the food poisoning complaints havent been confirmed by a faecal sample by the doctor and in many cases could be viral. If we receive a positive identification from a faecal sample we would look at the organism and determine whether there was an outbreak. I have been involved in an e.coli 0157 outbreak which was interesting and resulted in multiple hospital admissions! (Raw burger)

[Summersun111]

Danceintherain2018

Do you think some of the rules for schools/cafes are a bit OTT? I do. Some are so arduous and seem
Pretty pointless. Recording the temp of a fridge more than once a day on a spread sheet?! hmm

Answer- it is not a legal requirement to record temperatures in a book twice a day or in fact a legal requirement to be written down at all, it is HOWEVER a legal requirement to follow the organizations written food safety management system (HACCP) so if it is written in their HACCP it would be a legal requirement. If the school has it written in their haccp that they monitor fridge temperatures x2 a day then I would expect this to be carried out!

So if i was doing an inspection and there were thermometers in the fridge, the temperature was below 8 and I was confident staff were aware of the temperature requirements and carrying out daily checks I would take no further action.

I hope this makes sense, trying to keep it simple!

[ShovingLeopard]

Does what you see as part of your job put you off eating out?

[Summersun111]

PsychoPumpkin

Worst thing you’ve ever encountered on the job?

Answer- having to speak in court following a fatality in front of family and friends. Very sad!

[SnuggyBuggy]

Do you worry about ending up like that food safety inspector on SpongeBob?

[tectonicplates]

What exactly happens when you report a restaurant to Environmental Health for giving you food poisoning?

[Danceintherain2018]

Do you think some of the rules for schools/cafes are a bit OTT? I do. Some are so arduous and seem
Pretty pointless. Recording the temp of a fridge more than once a day on a spread sheet?!

[PsychoPumpkin]

Worst thing you’ve ever encountered on the job?