§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many times in the last 10 years the cause of a food poisoning outbreak has been attributed to cross contamination between cooked and raw meats in catering or retail establishments, or failure in temperature control. [HL3026]
§ Baroness HaymanInformation on factors reported to have contributed to outbreaks of food-borne infectious intestinal disease has been collected by the Public Health Laboratory Service since 1992. In the six-year period to 1997, inadequate heat treatment has been reported as contributing to 361 outbreaks and cross contamination to 297 outbreaks. However, there is no specific information on the nature of the cross contamination.