Episode 2 Food Inspectors

Have you enjoyed your dinner? Good.

Digest on this, every year over a million people get ill

because of the food they eat. That's over a million dodgy dinners.

What we need is a group of men and women who have the power

to shut down dirty restaurants and food shops all across the country.

Do these men and women exist?

They do, Chris.

They're called the food inspectors, and they're very, very busy.

'Over the next few weeks we'll be out on the road

'with the food inspectors.'

You need to get your act together.

'They'll discover restaurants where no-one seems to know what they're doing.'

You can't have a rabbit where you're preparing food.

You need to take the rabbit out. Take it out now.

'And we discover the visitors that no restaurant ever wants to meet.'

You have so many live cockroaches, yeah? In the preparation area.

What are they playing at?

'I'll be revealing the truth about the hidden world of

'food crime that puts you in danger.'

-What he's describing there is smuggling?

-It's a time bomb waiting to go off.

'And I'll be find out how our food manufacturers keep us safe.'

This doesn't look like a kitchen, this looks like a science lab.

'This week, the illegal trade in shellfish that could

'put your health at risk.'

We know people are going out there and bringing in cockles,

and I for one most certainly wouldn't be eating them.

'In Gravesend, Mandy finds a filthy kitchen and lays down the law.'

Dump it. Get a new one. What are you playing at?

So you need to get your act together.

'And I drop in on the woman who cares more

'about her pets than her kitchen.'

I'll test it, but it looks to me like faeces.

Now, there's one thing above all others

that will get a food inspector really worked up, and that is dirt.

Why? Well, it's quite simple. A grimy kitchen is more likely

to make you sick than a clean one.

Luckily, our food inspectors can spot dirt at 20 paces.

And it crops up in the most unlikely of locations.

'She's a woman on a mission.'

Whatever it is in there, shift it.

-'No-nonsense.'

-Something needs doing with this shelf.

-'No excuses.'

-I do not want to see that.

'Her manor's Gravesham in Kent,

'and with 24 years in the business, she takes it all in her stride.'

Don't leave bin bags.

Can you do something about your steps? Wrong answer.

'This is Mandy Cartwright, FI - that's Food Inspector to you and me.

'Today, she's on the trail of a Chinese takeaway.'

I've actually been up there twice before in the past,

so we're not quite sure what we're going to find today.

'Every food outlet in England, Wales

'and Northern Ireland is rated from zero to five -

'five being the cleanest,

'and zero meaning there is urgent improvement necessary.

'Now the Lucky Dragon boasts a four,

'but this could change depending on Mandy's inspection.'

Hello there. Were you here the last time I came?

'Mr Lee's not looking too happy to see Mandy again.

'That's because she's known as

'"Clean Up Or Close Down Cartwright".'

All right, so we're coming through.

'Mandy's one of Gravesham's most experienced inspectors,

'and is known for her straight talking.'

When was the last time you cleaned under your stove?

Once a week, you're kidding me.

-Look at all the rubbish that's up here, look.

-Oh, that.

-It's filthy.

Why have we got fishing rods stood in the corner there?

It shouldn't be in the food room.

Can we get some lids on some of these bins? They're all open.

'The Lucky Dragon's looking more like the Mucky Dragon,

'and Mandy's grime radar has picked up another kitchen no-no.'

Is that what's in that bottle,

or have you put something else in there?

Right. But look at what's in there. There's something floating in that.

Dump it, get a new one.

'Now Mandy turns her attention to the food,

'and immediately a box of fried chicken has caught her eye.'

When were these done?

And so how long have they been sat here?

Since six o'clock this morning?

So they've been here for about six hours since they've been cooked?

-How do they come in? Do they come in frozen?

-Yeah, yeah.

-In this box?

What concerns me is that this has had raw food in it

and you've now put cooked food.

Do you really think that's a good idea?

If you've got chicken in there, whether it's frozen or fresh,

there's going to be bacteria.

They've been sat at 20 degrees, for the sake of argument,

for the past six hours, in a box that's got bacteria on it.

What are you playing at?

'Her inspection's over and it's time for the verdict.'

Not good. Not good.

I'm not happy with what I saw out in that back room, and your storage

procedures are almost non-existent, they're not good enough.

The walls are filthy, and you will definitely not be

keeping your four-star rating, that's going to be dropping.

'Four out of five for food hygiene is something

'you tell your customers about, but a result like this may not be.'

So you need to get your act together.

There were, obviously, major cleaning issues

and it's going to be one that we're going to have to follow up on.

He will be getting a long schedule of work that he needs to look at.

'And we'll be back with Mandy later to see

'if Mr Lee cleans up his act or loses his four star hygiene rating.'

Food business is big business,

and it can attract people who cut corners.

Every week I'll be investigating a food crime that is not only

an illegal act, but which can put you and your family

and anyone who eats these foods at serious risk of illness.

Tonight I'm going to reveal there's a darker side to our shellfish

industry that could lead to poison on your plate.

'Shellfish - and I'm talking about molluscs like clams

'and mussels - can be dangerous, responsible for more

'cases of food poisoning that either dairy or rice, or fruit and veg.'

And some of the symptoms are horrifying -

amnesia, paralysis, diarrhoea.

'Now, I don't know about you,

'but I'd always assumed that if prepared properly, shellfish

'will be OK, but apparently it also depends on where it's caught.

'It's three o'clock in the morning and the fishermen

'at Lytham-St-Annes are going out to work.

'They're registered fishermen,

'fishing in waters where shellfish is cleared for human consumption.

'But there's evidence that this is not the only fishing taking place.

'And illegal fishing in other areas is putting anyone who

'eats their catch at risk.'

There are numerous beds throughout the United Kingdom

that are not classified.

We know people are going out there and bringing in cockles,

and I for one most certainly wouldn't be eating them

and I wouldn't advise anybody else to do the same.

'This kind of fishing may look small-scale, but it's anything but.

'Annually, 45,000 tons of shellfish are landed in the UK,

'and last year the industry was worth a whopping half a million pounds.

'In the past few years there have been a number of high-profile

'shellfish poisoning cases, and it can carry really dangerous

'nasties, such as E-coli and norovirus.

'A single outbreak can affect hundreds of people.

'Contaminated shellfish can end up on our plates

'when fishermen take their catch from dirty beds

'and pass them off as cleaner than they really are.

'So why do some areas produce cleaner shellfish than others?

'I'm off to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science -

'CEFAS to you and me - to meet a man who knows.'

Can you explain to me the classification

of different shellfish beds? How does that work?

Class A shellfish can actually be eaten raw, straight

from the seabed, you don't need to process them in any way at all.

'So Class A shellfish are good to eat raw.

'Class B require a level of filtration,

'and Class C need to be boiled before eating.

'But then below them are prohibited beds from which shellfish

'should never be consumed.'

If you've gone to beyond Class C into prohibited then, you know,

again, your chances of being made ill are increased.

'Illegal shellfishing is a nationwide problem,

'and the first port of call is Poole Harbour in Dorset.'

This is how easy it is.

The waters on the other side of that bridge there

are classified as prohibited - it's against the law to take

shellfish from there for sale, but how easy is it to take them

from there and then claim that they actually came from over there,

which is classified as C, or over there which is a B?

The Council knows this is going on.

Around here it's a small, but very real problem.

The vast majority of local

fishermen stick to the rules, but not everyone's so honest,

and this system hinges on those who catch the fish telling the truth.

It relies on the fishermen being honest about what they've done.

Presumably there will be some that aren't honest

and we can't verify exactly where the fish have come from

because it's self-certification.

And if they're marked as a B when they're a C or worse,

-then they've gone through the wrong process.

-Yeah, they have.

And we're relying on the fishermen themselves to tell us which they are.

'So even with the right paperwork,

'businesses still take shellfish from suppliers on trust and reputation.

'Take, for instance, this chef, who works just metres from the quay.'

Do you ever get people coming out, out of the blue to you

and offering you shellfish outside of your recognised suppliers,

the guys you always go to?

Every now and again we get a fisherman or two just wander

straight in off the quay and say

"I've got something to sell, I've got some fish

"or I've got some mussels or I've got some scallops,"

but we turn them away, because I don't know where they've come from.

'You've got to hope that all restaurateurs are as vigilant.

'Coming up later, the authorities are fighting back.

'I go out on patrol as the police look for anyone fishing illegally.'

'Now, if you've never had food poisoning, think yourself lucky.

'Some people are violently ill and for others, well,

'it could be nearly fatal.'

I'm in the food lab again and I've got another

frightening food poisoning story for you,

but I do have a few tips to make sure

you don't become the next victim.

This is the story of Sharon Sanderson from Halifax.

She works as a secretary, and according to our files,

she likes nothing more than a good workout at the gym,

so she WAS fit and healthy.

I say she was, because she made one fateful shopping trip

to Manchester, and her life was about to change.

I'd been into Manchester with my two girls,

and we'd recently come back from holiday, it was freezing,

winter was on its way, so we decided to go,

get stocked up with winter clothes.

But at some stage you thought,

"Right, we're a bit hungry," what happened?

We went to a food hall, early doors at lunchtime and, as usual,

everybody decided that they wanted something different.

One had McDonald's, one had Pizza Hut.

-And you thought, "I don't fancy that"?

-I'll go to t'noodle bar.

-What did you order?

-Chicken and noodles.

-Taste OK?

-At the time.

'Sharon believes that decision led to her hospitalisation

'and kidney failure.'

You finished off your shopping and then you decided to go home.

-How did you feel?

-A little bit off in the car journey on the way home.

I got home, felt a little bit more not quite with it.

Got in to my 'jamas, and put myself to bed at eight o'clock.

And then at nine o'clock I was up and was being violently ill.

'Sharon had picked up a very serious case of salmonella poisoning.

'It was never proved,

'but Sharon believes she caught it from the chicken noodles.'

I was probably being sick about every ten, 15 minutes.

'It was coming out with such force I could almost not get my breath.

And it was just...it was so regular.

There was just... There just seemed no end in sight with it.

Salmonella is the second most common cause of food poisoning.

It can be found in the guts of farm animals,

so it can infect poultry, eggs, milk and, of course, meat.

'Sharon called out the doctor who thought it was just a 48 hour bug,

'but she continued vomiting

'and the weight was dropping off her at an alarming rate.'

-I lost a stone.

-In how long?

-In about four days.

-So you lost a stone in four days?

-Yeah.

'Cross-contamination is one

'of the most common causes of food poisoning.

'With the help of some paint and an ultra-violet light

'it's all too easy to see how it happens.'

Here, I've got this piece of chicken,

I've been preparing it for my nice roast lunch.

I've done everything I can, I'm now going to put that in the oven.

Safe, because that's going to be cooked at the right temperature.

But look at the bacteria I've left behind on my chopping board,

and I think, "Well, I don't want to do too much washing up,

"I'll make my vegetables on here as well."

I start slicing on the chopping board and, of course,

I'm oblivious, I cannot see the salmonella.

I can only see it because I've got the ultra-violet light here.

And I'll maybe peel a few vegetables on there as well.

Please, get two chopping boards out - one for the raw meat

and one for your vegetables.

'By now, Sharon had suffered five days

'of relentless vomiting and diarrhoea.'

I kind of felt at that point pretty lifeless and I kind of thought if

that's what it feels to be on your way out, you know, bring it on,

because I just...I didn't feel like I had any fight in me.

'Sharon was rushed to hospital for a series of tests.'

The scan was on my kidneys,

so when that came back they then diagnosed renal failure.

-Renal failure, so kidney failure?

-Yeah.

'Renal failure is when the kidneys lose the ability

'to sufficiently filter toxins and waste products from the blood.

'Sharon was immediately moved to the respiratory ward,

'and given drips into both arms.'

On the Monday, they got the diagnosis through

that it was salmonella.

I was relieved, but then angry, because all this I'd got from food.

'The salmonella bacteria enter the stomach,

'invade the small intestine,

'and secrete toxins which make you sick, as Sharon knows all too well.

'She spent another week in an isolation ward before being

'well enough to go home.

'So how do you avoid salmonella? As always, wash your hands properly.

'Store cooked meat anyway from any raw food,

'and make sure all food is thoroughly cooked,

'so it's piping hot.

'Back in Gravesend and food inspector

'Mandy Cartwright's returning to the unlucky Lucky Dragon.

'Last time she visited, Mandy wasn't happy -

'there was the chicken in a box...'

This has had raw food in it and you've now put cooked food.

'..and is that bird's nest soup under the cooker or something else?'

When was the last time you cleaned under your stove?

'Mandy was left with no choice.'

You will definitely not be keeping your four-star rating.

That's going to be dropping.

'Now Mandy's back and it's time to see if owner Mr Lee

'has cleaned up his act.'

-You've sorted all your bowls out.

-Yeah.

That's all nice and neat and tidy.

The tiles have been done, yeah. So who got the dirty job?

-Was that you as well?

-Well...

-All the cleaning under there.

-Yeah.

'So the cleaning's improved, but what about food storage?

'On Mandy's last visit, they were keeping cooked chicken

'in a box used to store raw meat.'

How do you do it now? What do you put them in?

-Now we are using this.

-Right. And then you wash them?

Wash them, yeah, like that.

And what do you put in them? Do you put paper?

We put paper, like that.

'So it's looking like a clean bill of health for the Lucky Dragon,

'until eagle-eyed Mandy clocks something.'

-Hey, what's that?

-That's...

Not in the food room. Get it out.

Have you got a problem at the moment?

It was a bottle of rat poison.

'Oops. What will that slip-up mean to the food inspector's verdict?'

OK, thank you very much. That was much better.

-Much better.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Just noted on here "not storing the bait in the kitchen,"

because I don't want it getting in the food.

So in two months' time, if you keep up those clean conditions,

you can get a higher score.

From our point of view, yes, he has cleaned the back areas,

he has redecorated it, but if we come back in two months' time and

we find it's in a similar condition, then he'll get a similar rating.

Our food inspectors work day and night to keep us safe.

They are our last line of defence against bugs and bacteria.

Ooh, and they're thorough.

When they're around, there is no hiding place.

'Every kind of food outlet, from Michelin-starred restaurants

'to kebab shops, have to be inspected regularly.

'Enter Russell Jenner.

'His credentials speak for themselves - ten years at Reigate

'and Banstead Council, and 1,500 inspections under his belt.

'He's a match for any food outlet,

'and today's pizza delivery company is no exception.

'Every inspection starts with some basic questions.'

So these are the things you have to check every day.

And you check them at the start of when you open, do you?

Yeah, when we open, we start to do these things.

OK. It's just that Monday and Tuesday, they're not done.

'Mmm, some staff aren't ticking the chart that ensures

'food safety checks are carried out. Not a great start.'

Well, when you take things that are ready to eat from your ordinary

fridge, what sort of temperature would you expect them to be?

That must be...

As no-one seems to know what temperature

the fridges are supposed to be, Russell needs to check them all.

Having a fridge at the right temperature

is vital for food safety.

13.2. That's not good.

They should be aiming to get that below five.

13.2 is above the legal maximum,

so they'll need to get that checked out pretty quickly.

Into another room,

another employee, and another food safety rule has been broken.

I'm very pleased to see you've washed your hands.

I would have preferred it in the wash hand basin, OK.

That's a food-washing sink.

That's your hand wash basin there, and it's for washing hands.

It's vital people in catering keep hand washing and food washing

separate. After all, no-one washes their vegetables in the bathroom.

So far, not so good.

These Papa John's employees are not following the restaurant's

own rules when it comes to storage or hand washing.

Russell's now moved into the cooking area to see

if things are better there.

He quickly spots a box of chicken wings underneath the pizza oven.

Why aren't they in the fridge?

It's coming frozen and we need to do the defrosting.

So how does Papa John's say you defrost things?

Defrosting, we have this...

Papa John's does have a system for defrosting.

The trouble is, these staff don't seem to be following it.

So I understand how you take stuff from the freezer

and you defrost it in the walk-in chiller, that's all fine.

What I'm querying though now is you've got a box of those up there.

So we don't need to come again and again and take one bag like this.

If it's busy, four or five orders,

so he don't need to come here again and again.

OK. You can keep it opened and chilled.

But you can't... You've got it open just under the oven.

But that is actually quite a warm area.

Some of the employees appear to have insufficient

understanding of company procedure

but maybe the assistant manager can shed some light on matters.

How long have you been here then?

I've been here as a driver for about five years,

but I'm only literally getting trained up at the moment.

I've done two weeks inside, closing up the shop and everything.

-Have you done the food hygiene course?

-No.

-OK.

There should be a Papa John's system, I'm sure there is,

-an operations manual, something like that.

-I have seen one,

-I have no idea where it is.

-OK.

Russell's getting concerned. It's not a legal requirement for staff

to attend a food hygiene course, but he had hoped the assistant

manager would know where the company's guidelines are kept.

-It's a little bit...

-Fly by the seat of your pants.

Yes. I was going to say more luck than judgement,

-but I think it's a bit more than that.

-It is, yeah.

But there's no sort of hard and fast system in place.

Restaurant chains have carefully calculated food hygiene systems

to keep their customers safe.

Russell's concern is that, in this case, the employees don't

appear to be following all of them.

The system they have here is intrinsically designed to be

fairly safe, but then on top of that, obviously,

there's the local procedures, which have been

arranged by Papa John's to be done in a certain way to make sure

that everything falls into place there are no problems at all.

And what I've been finding here is one or two things not quite

falling in to place.

And we'll be back with Russell later

when he returns to Papa John's to see if things have improved.

'I've been across Britain to find out how a few rogue shell

'fishermen are cashing in at the risk of our health.'

I discovered that not all shellfish are the same -

some come from beds that are prohibited.

And I, for one, most certainly would not be eating them.

Yet one of the people depended upon to guarantee

the origin of the shellfish is the very person who's catching them.

It relies on the fishermen being honest about what they've done.

So I've headed east along the coast from Poole Harbour to

Southampton Water, where police have taken on the problem

of polluted shellfish that could make you ill.

Basically, we're here as a presence on the water to

look for anything out of place or illegal.

It could be in relation to illegal fishing,

fishing for contaminated produce.

Is that a real threat to you?

Is that something that you have encountered?

It is, indeed. Certainly, as you head up towards Southampton Water,

there are certain areas that are prohibited from fishing due

to the presence of E coli in those waters.

Sergeant Stu Trebeck and his colleagues work with other agencies

in the area to keep shellfish that come out of these waters safe.

It's a job that keeps them very busy.

A couple of weeks ago we were alerted by the harbour master

for Southampton Water that there was a fisherman

dredging in the prohibited area.

Effectively, he was collecting Manila clams which are known

to be E coli-laced because of their proximity in the water.

One of my officers boarded the vessel, had a chat with him,

confirmed they were Manila clams and that they were dangerous to get

in to the food chain, that in this situation it was better to get him

to put his catch back out in to the water so that it couldn't be sold.

It's the police's job to check all the fishing boats in the area.

Equipped with a rib - a smaller, faster boat -

they can catch up with fishermen who may not be operating within the law.

The waters we're in now, A-OK for fishing, no problem at all.

So what these guys are doing here is legal, that's not a problem.

But all around here there are waters which aren't safe to eat,

they're prohibited. When the shellfish is presented to you,

you don't know whether it's come from lovely clean waters like these

or whether they've come from somewhere else.

That's why what these guys are doing is so important.

But it isn't long before the rib's being called out to

check on another boat.

Why has it gone ahead of us?

What we're doing is boarding just to make sure that

people are catching stuff they should be catching.

Part of the problem with all of this, of course, is that once

a piece of shellfish has left a certain beach,

-you can't identify it...

-That's right.

-..as being from place or another.

-That's right.

So it is really important that,

if someone has been catching produce in a prohibited area, that does not

get in with the rest of their catch from other non-prohibited areas.

One of the only ways the authorities have of checking where the shellfish

on any boat have come from is the records that the fishermen keep.

It's about monitoring what's coming out of the water

and what's going into the food supply.

So, what's happening at the moment is the team that are on there

have cautioned the captain and they're interviewing him now

to find out exactly why he hasn't got a log book.

The ultimate end is that he may get a fine,

which can go up £50,000 for not maintaining it.

The Shellfish Trade Association - the SAGB -

says European law requires a registration mark on every

package of shellfish, which retailers must retain for 60 days.

The aim is full traceability from the shellfish beds to the consumer.

They say this system works well, is monitored

and has shown a significant reduction in

shellfish-related illnesses since introduction.

However, they accept where harvesting areas are more transient

and less well-defined there is the potential for abuse but

they do not believe this is a common occurrence within their members,

adding that the UK produces some of the safest shellfish in Europe.

Let's be clear - the vast majority of fishermen operate within the law

but the ones who break the rules mean that it's hard to

eat shellfish with total confidence.

Yes, the authorities may be doing their bit, but the reality is

that, while fishermen themselves are being trusted to say

where their catch came from, there'll always be room for doubt.

Back in Surrey and food inspector Russell Jenner

is revisiting Papa John's.

He takes no prisoners and he's expecting some big

improvements from the Banstead branch of the pizza chain.

Hello there. I'm Russell Jenner from Environmental Health.

I've come to do a revisit to check around the premises.

No problem, thank you. Come and have a look.

Last time he was here some of the staff were confused about some

food safety issues.

Well, when you take things that are ready to eat from your ordinary

fridge, what sort of temperature would you expect them to be?

But the pizza joint got the message

and has rolled out a whole raft of changes.

So we're happy now the food safety management system's in place.

I haven't been able to test the members of staff

but I'm happy that it should all fall together quite nicely now

because we've got a training system that's robust,

we've got a diary that, when properly managed, is robust

and everything should fall into place quite nicely.

Russell also discovered a bad habit staff use to defrost chicken wings

and he doesn't like bad habits.

Why aren't they in the fridge?

If it's busy, So he don't need to

come here again and again and take these things.

You can keep it opened and chilled.

But you've got it open just under the oven.

I noticed last time that there was some hot chicken wings.

They were being stored at ambient to be served as hot chicken wings.

How are you dealing with those now?

We always keep in a chiller and when the order comes in then only

we take it out and prep and put it in the oven.

It has to be in the chiller.

That's been sorted. Right, Makeline fridge, 13.2.

-You were having some trouble with it at the time, weren't you?

-Yes.

And last visit, Russell got tough

because the chillers weren't chilling.

13.2. That's not good.

It was the underside that was the real problem.

-5.3, that's fine.

-The underside is still a problem

but we're not using at the moment cos it's a discontinued brand.

-Right.

-Saying that, we've ordered a new one,

which is 2.9 metres long, longer than what we have...

The management have done their best

but nothing escapes this food inspector.

That's fine. This is all lovely and clean and sanitised.

-But can you feel under there?

-OK.

-See? That's the bit that they touch, not here.

-Yes.

So again, that would be the sort of thing, talk to the person who does

the cleaning, get them to understand why it's important

and then, crucially, check them afterwards.

Russell's the man. He spoke, they listened, job done.

That's it. I'm very pleased.

They've obviously put in a lot of work to address all the issues.

Brand-new fridge, brand-new walk-in chiller, absolutely excellent.

All the date coding is good.

And the staff training for the food safety management system

seems to have improved across the chain.

-Hello, mate.

-Hello, how are you?

-I'm really well, actually a bit busy.

-Are you?

Yeah, I've got people coming round for dinner, mates and all that,

at my place. Sort of family, friends, I've got a few work colleagues,

actually, all my work colleagues you know, people I get on with.

-I'm busy, to be honest, so...

-OK.

It's just as well because dinner can be dangerous.

Here's an interesting food fact for you -

10 germs outside the fridge can multiply to 1,000 in just

six hours, so it's really important that you keep your kitchen

clean, especially if you're cooking for family and friends.

And in order to maintain the highest standard across the land

I'll be paying a visit each week to a home or a workplace near you

and I'll be bringing along our very own food inspector, Ben Milligan.

And today's surprise visit is for pet lovers.

Yes, we Brits love our animals, but they can carry all sorts of bugs

and diseases, which can infect our food.

Do you know what they are and how to prevent them?

Today I am in Tonbridge.

I've been invited round for dinner at Linda's house

and also to check out her kitchen.

She's cooking for her daughter and her two-year-old grandson.

Oh, one other thing I forgot to tell you, she is a massive pet lover.

She has a horse, a pony and a cat and she treats them all like family.

Should be interesting.

That's because pets and food can be a toxic combination.

More about that in a minute.

First, meet Gucci, the love of Linda's life.

Good boy.

I will spend hours in the stable, making it look absolutely beautiful.

So you don't worry about a little bit of dirt and mess,

mucking out and all that sort of thing. You enjoy that?

-Oh, yes, yes.

-Getting your hands dirty?

-Yeah, absolutely. Yes.

-But in your house?

-Not bothered really.

Hmm, but not everyone's so keen on Linda's love of animals.

In particular, this evening's dinner guests, her daughter Faye

and her two-year-old grandson, Nathan.

-You and Nathan are going round for some nosh?

-Yeah.

-Is this a regular thing?

-No.

-Why not?

-Because I don't eat here.

If I have to come and we're going to eat, I will bring a packed lunch.

-Why's that?

-Because her kitchen's not clean.

The challenge is clear -

Faye and Nathan would love to sit down for a nan-cooked burger

but only if Linda's kitchen passes our inspection.

So, this is the kitchen in question.

It is.

Well, I'm not making any judgements but I am here to make sure

you are allowed to cook a hamburger for your grandson.

-Thank you.

-OK. So we are giving you a food inspection.

-Right.

-But I'm going to need the help of a very special man

and he's going to surprise you over your shoulder right now.

That's Ben, our food inspector.

Mmm.

And he takes his job very seriously,

-and he doesn't look that impressed so far.

-He doesn't, does he?

No. Let the food inspection begin.

Ben's straight to work.

If there's bacteria to be found, this lad will sniff it out.

I'm just starting to wonder what this is beside the litter tray

because it looks to me like some sort of splashback,

-it looks to me like faeces.

-Lovely.

Cat and dog faeces can harbour the bacteria campylobacter,

a major cause of food poisoning.

So play safe and give

a big no-no to your pets doing a doo-doo in the kitchen.

But it gets worse.

Cosying up to the pooh in the litter tray is Linda's dirty horse blanket.

Well, with any animals there is the potential that they're

carrying bacteria, so they shed it.

E coli 0157 has been found in horses

and it's a very, very serious bacteria.

It can give you kidney failure and kill you.

Where there are pets, there's pooh and that means E coli

but it doesn't end there.

You can also get toxocariasis from dog and cat faeces,

which can spread to your food.

In severe cases, it can lead to breathing difficulties,

skin rashes and seizures.

Back in the kitchen,

Ben's found that Linda has some pets she's probably less keen on.

You see along the top there,

there's a complete jungle of different types of fly.

You've got daddy-longlegs, drosophila - little fruit flies.

You've got hawthorn shield bug.

Contamination from the litter tray

to food surfaces or food on surfaces

by flies or winged insects - it is a real possibility in this kitchen.

But is there another culprit - one with slightly bigger footprints?

Ben's swabbing to find out

but I think we've got a pretty good idea already.

Yes, it's Linda's cat, Socks.

It doesn't smell great.

Usually, when I do a swab, it comes up, it's relatively clean

and you think, "Oh, well, it doesn't look dirty,"

but it's what you can't see that you're looking for.

But here, look at that.

That's off a work surface.

Ben's done with the inspection and it's time for his report.

Is Linda's kitchen clean enough to cook in?

We are looking for a recording of below 1,000.

The actual figure

-is 199,645.

-My God.

Nathan, this is why we don't eat at Nanny's house.

-That's quite bad.

-It is bad. It is bad.

Are you going to let your mummy cook a burger for you and the little one?

No, no. Not on that hob, not in that kitchen.

-We can help you clear up.

-Yeah.

Would you come back then and have a burger?

I would come back after a clear-up, yes.

And after the cat has been evicted from the kitchen.

A few days later and our food inspector's back with

a cleaning master-class Linda's kitchen will never forget.

Ben's top tips for pet owners are -

always clean your work surfaces with anti-bacterial spray.

Right, so obviously this surface was off the scale.

What I would suggest for something like that is a two-phase clean.

What you would do first is wipe off all the debris

and then you'd do it again to sanitise it.

Try and keep litter trays out of the kitchen.

Right, so here we are in faecal corner -

somewhere I don't like to be - between a rock and a hard place

of the litter tray and the horse blanket.

So we know how these tested, it's not good.

That doesn't need to be in here.

I know they need to come in here to be washed, but they don't need

to be lying about. So get them in there as soon as possible.

Linda's kitchen's looking as clean as a whistle

but will it now pass the food inspector's test?

Last time Ben swabbed it was an epic fail.

-199,645.

-My God.

It's time for the retest.

Anything between 500 and 1,000 and the kitchen's clean to cook in.

Lunch hangs in the balance.

-Oh, 52.

-52.

-So that's a massive pass. I'm really happy with that.

-Yeah.

Well, if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for us.

We will have our lunch here today.

-BEN:

-Let's get cracking, then.

So it's a green light from the food inspector

and everyone's tummies are rumbling.

So it's time to get cooking and then eating.

Except Ben, of course.

Right, that's the kitchen done.

I've got more dirt on me, I think,

so I'm going to go and sanitise myself.

But, oh, how nice, you're all together at last.

Very nice. Thank you very much.

Not a problem. Right, I'll leave you to it.

From cats and dogs to Wales. The country -

it would be ridiculous to have a whale as a pet.

We're in Cardiff, home to over 2,900 restaurants, bars and food shops.

Food inspector Gillian Morse has been protecting the locals

from food poisoning for over 12 years.

She's seen it all before. Well, she thought she had, until today.

Neighbours phoned after reporting strange smells

coming from a boarded-up building.

I've just been up to the front of the premises now.

It's all boarded up,

but I can smell a bakery smell coming from inside, so I'm

going to try round the front, see if I can find out what's going on.

From the outside it looks like a derelict shop,

but Gillian has her suspicions.

They obviously haven't got any provision to get rid of any

rubbish that's being produced from the business.

It's starting to build up in the food preparation room.

Gillian needs to work out whether this is a commercial bread

business or just a couple of keen amateurs.

-OK. Can I take your name, please?

-Yeah. Felipe.

Gillian's first find is an industrial dough-mixer. Hmm.

Can you explain to me when this was last used?

Today.

-And this one?

-Today.

Do you think that's acceptable really?

It's the hands, for the...

Yeah. What I'm saying is, if they're this damaged then

when you're getting food out, you're going to get bits falling off.

Raw, cracked eggs, stale food, dirty dishes, crumbling walls -

it's a hygiene battlefield.

I've come across dirty premises

but nothing that's been done in secret like this.

Gillian suspects it might be an illegal, unregistered bakery,

but it's an allegation that Felipe completely denies.

OK. I don't know really know where to start, to be honest with you.

So what are you doing here all together?

Tell me where you're getting your food from, who you're supplying.

Who are you supplying from here?

Even baking samples requires registration

but Gillian still thinks this place could be selling food as well.

You're saying you're not actually a bakery at the moment but

you're going to be in the future. Is that what you're telling me?

I'm not sure I entirely believe that from what I've seen today.

Gillian remains concerned.

We'll be back later when the head of the outfit turns up.

So I need to say, you do not have to say anything

but it may harm your defence if you do not mention,

when questioned, something which you later rely on in court.

Britain has a great tradition of small food producers - small

outfits providing big flavours. And these foods often go straight

from the farm onto our fork, so getting it right can be make

or break because they're directly responsible for what they sell.

So who are these self-contained heroes of the food chain?

It's time for me to meet the producers.

I love meat - beef, lamb, chicken, pork, all of it.

But I've recently discovered that, by and large,

meat comes from farms and farms are inherently filthy places.

They're covered in... That's why everyone wears wellies.

So how is the meat we eat clean and safe

when it comes from a farm which is filthy?

Shall we find out?

Am I actually helping today?

'Now, this is Toby Bowtell.'

He's a smallholder in Hampshire

and produces chicken, lamb, beef and pork.

He sells directly to his customers through his farm shop.

Lovely.

If something happened and somebody got food poisoning then,

yeah, it comes straight back to my door, and once that's across

the front of the paper, that's it, your business is gone.

Toby's animals are as happy as pigs in...that stuff that pigs make,

and there lies the problems or, in fact, three of them.

E coli, salmonella and campylorbacter -

the unholy trinity of food poisoning.

And they're to be found in the 50 shades of that stuff

that are to be found everywhere on this farm.

Meat producers like Toby therefore have a huge job on their hands

keeping it out of the food we eat.

But in their favour, they have systems and routines, procedures

which make sure that our food is safe.

Toby's got a herd of around 60 cattle -

small compared to a big producer,

but he still faces the same challenges.

One of the main ones being keeping those animals clean.

They're beautiful animals, but they're filthy.

Well, I know what that is on its head

but I don't know how it got there.

What can you do about that?

You cannot keep everything immaculately clean.

What we've got to do is our best to make sure they're well bedded up,

they're clean and they're tidy, and we wash them down

and that's done on the day before they go to the abattoir.

But if you take them to the abattoir

and they're dirty, the Ministry vet condemns it, simple as that.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

If they condemn the beef animal, I don't get any money and there's

no beef to sell in the shop so, you know, it's very important for us.

So the cows have to be washed before they're turned into beef.

But what about sheep?

Well, the main problem here is dangleberries - cling-ons.

I'm not talking about Star Trek.

-STAR TREK THEME PLAYS

-Oh, too late!

-Hi.

-You must be Louise.

'I'm about to boldly go.'

Is this something that an amateur

who's never really done this before could have a go at?

You could have a go, with pleasure.

'The line where the animal is cut during slaughter must be

'clear of chug nuts, and that means a quick shave.'

-Oh, this is rubbish. How is that?

-It's not looking bad.

There you go. Sorted.

It's like, have you ever tried to iron a fitted sheet

that's covered in wool? No, you wouldn't have done that.

But if you've ever tried to iron a fitted sheet,

it's virtually impossible. This is a similar kind of exercise, Lou,

but it's much more physical.

Once the raw meat comes back from the abattoir,

it's ready for the shop, and this brings another potential problem -

cross-contamination.

There'll be bacterias on raw meat that you don't want mixing

with your cooked food

and we strive here to make sure that the raw meat doesn't go

anywhere near the cooked product.

'OK. I think I've got that right.

'So raw and cooked meat have got to be kept separate.

'This is a fridge, by the way.'

It's OK to have chickens next to sausage, next to beef.

We've got pork, we've got lamb. They can all exist together?

It's all raw meat, the same as you have in your fridge.

So no cooked meat would come in here.

So, in terms of the way you run this fridge, this cold room, is there

anything we can learn about, you know, about fridges at home

and the way you manage them?

Well, the most important thing is you can see, when we came in,

I shut the door behind me

and because, especially in hot weather, the hot air comes out

and goes in so quickly, your fridge can really warm up.

Yeah, I mean, the big difference, of course, is, kids,

don't climb in to your fridge at home.

Wow, that is some meat counter, Ronnie. You all right?

-Yes, fine, thanks.

-What should I be having for my tea tonight?

Ooh, the rump steak's good. Nice and well hung.

So I buy it from you, I know it's all right,

how do I make sure I don't mess it up when I get it home?

When you get it home, what you need to do is

always put it in the bottom of your fridge.

If it's at the bottom of the fridge, it's not going to contaminate

any of your vegetables or your salad stuff or your cooked meats.

And obviously to check your fridge is cold enough as well.

There are thousands of small farmers like Toby all around the country

and they have to take your food safety seriously.

After all, it's their neck.

So, you see, it is possible to take meat all

the way from its origins on the farm to the chilled counter safely,

as long as you understand that there are rules which cannot be broken.

Of course, you have to still follow those rules once you get it home.

Steak for tea.

Now, back in Cardiff,

where Gillian's been investigating a load of baking equipment

on premises that aren't registered as a bakery.

It's chaotic...

And they obviously haven't got any provision to get rid of any rubbish.

..it's dirty...

Do you think that's acceptable?

..and, for a couple of seconds at least, it left Gillian speechless.

OK, I don't really know where to start, to be honest with you.

So what are you doing here all together?

Gillian suspects it may be a back-street bakery,

operating outside the law.

I had no idea such things existed.

There's no traceability as to where the food is coming from,

where it's going.

Everything that could be wrong is wrong.

Felipe maintains it's not a commercial bakery.

His cousin Miguel, who's running the outfit, then arrives.

Because there's the possibility

that you've committed some offences today, I have to caution you.

You do not have to say anything,

but it may harm your defence if you do not mention

when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

-Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

-Sure.

Are you supplying any other business from this address at the moment?

No. We're distributing samples to actually try our product.

Can I...? You've got a delivery note here, can I have a look at this?

-Sure, of course.

-Because this is for one of your suppliers, yeah?

-Yeah.

-So, 12 16kg bags of flour.

-Yeah.

This much just for samples?

Gillian's heard enough and she rings her boss.

It's clear to me that there's a bakery.

What the owner says is that they're just doing samples.

So what I'm going to do is serve on yourselves what's called

a Remedial Action Notice and the effect of that notice is that

you must cease all food preparation with immediate effect.

Whether they're trading has not been established,

but even if the boys want to continue baking samples they'll have

to bring the place up to scratch and register with the council.

Everything was totally, totally wrong.

That was probably in my top ten of worst premises I've visited.

And we'll be back with Gillian later to see what the boys decide to do.

Now, food production in the UK is big business,

worth a massive £179 billion every year.

This is food production on a grand scale and the precautions

manufacturers take to make sure the food reaches the consumer

in tiptop condition are just as big.

One small mistake and their reputation is in ruins.

Each week, we've been given exclusive behind-the-scenes access to

show you how our food producers keep Britain safe.

This week it's pies.

Like most pre-cooked foods, the potential for contamination

by bugs and bacteria is huge.

It's a minefield of hazards for any manufacturer to navigate.

So just how do Britain's pie-makers

keep their products safe for us to eat?

This is Pooles of Wigan

and, in the pie business, they can rightly claim to be up the top.

Never mind who ate all the pies,

these guys can say they've made them all since 1847.

Every week a million pies roll off the production line.

Everything from steak and kidney to apple lattice

and this lady has had her finger in most of them.

You know what I mean.

-I'm Chris.

-All right, Chris.

-Do you know anything about pies?

-A bit.

-Yeah.

-I've been in the business 50 years.

-Will you show me around?

-I will, yeah.

-Come on, then.

'First up, a critical control point - that's a safety check to you and me.

'We're off to meet the butcher.'

-So is this how the meat arrives?

-It is.

They all have to be fully sealed, no vacuum split,

no leaks or anything like that.

Something as simple as a hole in the bag

could lead to all manner of contamination.

The whole batch of meat would end up in the bin

and the production line would grind to a halt.

Despite Pauline's warm smile, I can tell you,

there's a distinctly frosty atmosphere here.

So what I have noticed, Pauline, it's cold in here, cold everywhere.

-Yes.

-It has to be below five,

even on the transport bringing the meat in, to prevent bacteria.

Now, just like at home, all the ingredients have to be

properly cooked but the difference here is

they regularly test for germs and use a special pressure cooker.

-It's beginning to smell very nice indeed.

-Yes, yes, yes.

-But I'm here to find out how to make sure it's safe.

-Yes.

So how do you cook it to make sure that it is safe?

It's taken up to 85 degrees at least

then it's simmered for two minutes at that heat.

Getting your temperatures right is the key to safe pie-making.

Pressure cooking kills any bacteria which could be on the meat

and then rapid cooling takes the pies down to below five degrees Celsius

to make sure no airborne bacteria reinfect them.

-This is my favourite part.

-Yeah.

-The meat going into the pie.

-Is it a complicated process?

-Not at all, no.

-Right.

-Once you get your temperatures right..

-Yeah.

..and the weights of the filling, the weights of the pastry,

everything's perfect.

Now, if you're making a pie at home you might well brush the top

with beaten egg to make your pastry golden brown.

But you'd never see our Pauline doing this.

That would be a serious pie no-no.

-No.

-No?

-No, because that could attribute to salmonella.

That's a big no-no. Especially dealing with supermarkets,

your customers, no egg whatsoever.

Once the pies have been filled, it's time for a quick blast

in the freezer - another safety procedure.

What does the freezing process do?

Well, if there's any kind of bacteria at all, it lies dormant

because the freezing process keeps it safe.

To me, that's amazing.

After all the processes you've done it still obviously has

potential, it has bacteria there. Why's that?

-Yes, because it's in the air.

-Right.

How long are they going to be safe for?

On our recommendation, we say 18 months.

So here it is - the perfect pie.

It looks and smells absolutely delicious.

So to all those UK pie-makers out there we say, "Thank you,"

and, please, carry on protecting Britain.

Mmm.

Cardiff, and food inspector Gillian Morse is back.

Four weeks ago she visited a premises which

she suspected of being an unregistered bakery.

The owner denied the allegation but admitted to producing samples,

which still requires registration, so Gillian got tough.

You must cease all food preparation with immediate effect.

Now the council are still considering

whether to take any further action.

But today, Gillian's heading back to see

if the premises have been brought up to scratch.

It looks like now what I would consider to be a bakery.

There has been no baking since Gillian's last visit but clearly

the boys have been very busy - new tiles, gleaming work surfaces.

-You're just waiting for the hot water now and then for this?

-Yeah.

-Is there water coming through at all or...?

-Not really.

-No water yet.

-Yeah.

-It looks good though, doesn't it?

Yeah.

A food inspector's role isn't just about enforcement.

If the boys are serious about baking,

Gillian will do all she can to advise them

and get them registered with the council as quickly as possible.

This used to be the little kitchen area before, so they've

knocked through and they've built in so there's more preparation space.

You know, this was the oven that was previously in that room, so they've

relocated this and they're going to put in a proper ventilation system.

It looks like completely different premises.

They've done it properly this time.

Once you've got your doors in, once your ventilation is in,

once you've got the hot water up and running I can lift that notice then.

-All right?

-Thank you.

Don't work too hard. No, work very hard.

Obviously they've put a lot of work in.

I've put a lot of work in, giving them advice and helping them,

so I'm just looking forward to them being able to open

and starting as a proper business.

And that, ladies and gentlemen,

is how the food inspectors sausage roll.

Their number one aim is to give constructive advice

but, remember, for you food producers out there,

there is never any excuse not to be registered.

Because the food inspectors will sniff you out.

They've got very powerful noses.

And their eyes are very good as well. And they're everywhere.

And they've got the law behind them, keeping us safe.

See you next week. Can we have one of everything, please?

-Here you are, mate, get stuck in.

-Lovely. He'll have the same.

See you. Bye.

Coming up next week, we meet Britain's hairiest food inspector.

If Bindi sits down next to your luggage, you are in trouble.

-Is this your bag?

-Yeah.

-Do you have food in that bag?

-Yeah.

-What food have you got in there?

-Just a pastry.

If anything has meat in it, you're not allowed it.

We find meat for sale in London

that could bring deadly disease into the UK...

It's a time bomb waiting to go off.

..we visit the restaurant that needs painting with something

that isn't cooking oil...

It all needs redecorating and needs deep cleaning and your cleaning,

generally, needs to be improved.

..and I meet the lady who thinks

she was nearly killed by a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich.

She looked so bad, I didn't think she was going to pull through.

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