TV Cooking shows - Food Safety Standards

A discussion is raging on whether TV Cooking shows should have to keep to the same food hygiene standards as chefs and food handlers working daily with food do.

The question is also being asked by The Guardian in the UK after a recent Master Chef series where a contestant had chipped red nail polish and viewers surmised that chips of polish ended up in the dough she kneaded and another contestants’ hair was flying around.  Of course there was the sweat dripping from one of the contestants into the hot pan...ummm.

This sort of behaviour we have also seen on Come Dine With Me with unwashed hands moving from task to task, food being dropped on the floor and scrapped up to be served, or leaving sushi on the bench where the cat has a nibble.....These contestants are not professionals, like when Nigella licks the spoon, just hope it isn’t re-used!

The Guardian asks - do we really care?  In many homes cooking is a lot less focused on hygiene than your average professional kitchen, clearly, though while many of us live by the five second rule, when it comes to cooking, most people will go to the effort of separating raw meat from vegetables, washing their hands and wiping their surfaces before preparing food. Some people might go to the trouble of tying long hair back, but how many would cover their rings up with plasters?

Consumers are more aware and expect chefs and food handlers to not use the same glove to make a sandwich and collect money and to follow these basic food standards.

Do are you think a bit of bacteria never really does us any harm?

Should TV cooking shows be adhering to food safety standards?

CFT QLD offers food hygiene training online, onsite or by correspondence.