§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue strengthened anti-salmonella guidelines on the use of eggs and minced meat preparations in hospital catering establishments.
§ Mr. DorrellExisting guidance to the national health service including circular HC(86)14—a copy of which is available in the Library—on food hygiene and pest control and the national health service manual on hygiene sets out the principles of hygiene and good catering practice necessary for the prevention of food-borne illness.
We also issued a letter to all national health service district general managers in July 1988 asking them to ensure that all recipes containing raw eggs that are not likely to be cooked thoroughly should be amended to specify the use of pasteurised egg. It is a matter for local health authorities to ensure that the principles of this guidance are followed within catering establishments.
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§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to reduce the risk of salmonella infection arising in hospitals and other mass catering establishments.
§ Mr. DorrellExisting guidelines to the national health service set out the principles necessary for the prevention of food-borne illness and provides specific advice on the proper handling of eggs. Advice to chief environmental health officers asks them to ensure that catering businesses are also aware of the need to replace raw egg with pasteurised egg in recipes in which eggs are served uncooked.
The Government have recently laid before Parliament the Food (Hygiene) General (Amendment) Regulations 1990 that require all food businesses to maintain safe temperatures of food.
It is a matter for the enforcement authorities to ensure that these procedures are followed in the whole of the catering industry.