Public Servant Lifestyle

There's more to buying fast food and eating out than handing over your cash.

Food safety chiefs hope to help millions of kebab-munchers, chip-chompers and burger-bellies stomach their late night takeaways. Before ordering our fast food, or dining out, we should be making a series of mental checks, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Danger Signs

The FSA says these are:

1. Coverage in the local press about food hygiene offences.

2. Dirty public areas ("if the areas you can see aren't managed well, imagine the state of the areas you can't see.")

3. Dirty tables, crockery, cutlery and glassware.

4. Staff with dirty hands or fingernails, dirty aprons, or long hair that isn't tied back.

5. Overflowing wastebins, or bags of rubbish, outside the premises (these could attract pests and flies).

6. Dirty toilets, and handwashing areas.

7. Raw foods displayed next to ready-to-eat foods, or the same serving utensils used for both.

8. Food on display that has passed its 'Use by' date.

9. Hair, insects or other foreign objects in food.

"Any of these things might indicate bad management and sloppy hygiene standards,and these can compromise the safety of food," says the FSA.

Good Signs

The FSA says these are:

1. Hot food is piping hot, when served.

2. Cold food is properly cold, when served.

3. A fresh batch of food is brought out, when a batch is finished (an old batch of food should never be topped up with a fresh one).

4. Self-service fridges are properly cold.

5. Staff hygiene training certificates on the walls, or food safety instructions in food preparation areas.

If we think standards aren't up to scratch, the FSA says we should:

Complain to the owner of the premises

Report the business to our local environmental health service

Take our business elsewhere

"It's important to let your local environmental health service know if you have concerns about hygiene at any food outlet," says the Food Standards Agency, "because this could help prevent poor hygiene making other customers seriously ill."

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a central Government agency established to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food safety and standards across the UK. The FSA incorporates the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) - itself an Executive Agency of the FSA since 1995 - which is responsible for the protection of public health relating to meat products, as well as animal health and welfare issues.

More information available in Dining Out, Eating In, Healthy Alternatives, Naughty But Nice, Main Courses, To Your Door, Vegetarian