Episode 3 Food Inspectors

What I really enjoy about eating out is that you can just relax,

sit back and then let somebody else worry about washing-up.

Yeah, but you don't know what's happening behind those swing doors

-in the kitchen.

-No, I don't know, but I tell you who does.

-Who's that?

-The Food Inspectors.

'We've never been more interested in our food and this is the programme

'that reveals what you really need to know

'about the food on your plate.'

You think people will know the difference?

Oh, it doesn't look like chicken.

Are they doing us any good?

'I'll be lifting the lid on our billion pound food industry.'

Are our supermarkets as safe and clean as you might expect?

Get in there!

You were living virtually as slaves.

I'll be teaching you how to avoid becoming the next food victim.

The campylobacter has splattered everywhere.

I honestly thought I was going to die.

'And I'll be joining Chris to help reveal

'what's really in our favourite foods.'

Anybody fancy eating any of this? ALL: No!

And, of course,

we'll be back out on the front line with the food inspectors.

We can't leave you open with cockroaches.

From takeaways to gastro pubs, everyone is open for inspection.

If there is a food poisoning outbreak,

you would end up being prosecuted.

This week in Oxford, Richard has a showdown with a cowboy chef...

You haven't got the space for safe food preparation.

You're saying no cooking at all, basically?

-I'm saying no cooking at all.

-OK.

'I find out what's in bacon.

'Are we eating too much of this national favourite?'

Has this made any of you feel differently?

-It certainly made me think twice.

-Yeah.

..in Newcastle, the lack of a boiler

gets a kebab shop in hot water...

Until that's sorted out, we're going to close the doors,

we're just going to do a voluntary closure.

..and I reveal the shocking link between slave labour

and the food on our table.

The criminals have got a head start and we're playing catch up.

The food industry's worth billions and over the last few years

it's totally transformed the way we shop and eat.

But that means when it goes wrong, it can also have a massive impact.

Every week, I'll be lifting the lid on the big food stories

that could affect us all.

Most of us will visit the supermarket at least once this week,

but as you push your trolley through aisles packed with produce, have you

ever given any thought to the people across the UK who got it there?

For instance, if you knew that the food on your plate

was picked by a slave

here in Britain, would you be able to eat it with a clear conscience?

Carrots, cauliflowers, leeks, potatoes - you'll find them

all being grown here in a lush Fenland soil of East Anglia

and thousands of people are employed, not just picking them, but

also packing them and then shipping them off to our supermarkets.

This tough work is seasonal and that means farmers need

loads of casual workers to get our food out of their fields.

In Britain today, these workers are very often migrants.

Speed is quite important

because obviously these guys have a target per day to reach.

Presumably no individual is judged on how much they provide,

how much they chop - it's the team as a whole.

It is very much a team effort, yeah.

'The official name given to the people who employ

'and provide these people is licensed gangmaster.

'They play a legitimate, important role

'supplying this vital workforce

'to food factories and farms across the country.'

-OK, so we've got the product here. Can I have a go?

-Yes.

-Yes, certainly.

-Am I going to lose fingers here?

-Only if you're very careless.

-Right, um...

That's not impossible, you know.

'In peak season, they might need up to 50 people to cut more

'than 64,000 cauliflowers a day.'

They're too small.

-That's a good one.

-That's got to be. Hey, hey!

-You've just got to get faster.

-I've just got to get...

I think a lot faster. Got my blade dirty now.

BLADE SWISHES

'Yeah, for the record,

'that really hurt, but I didn't lose my thumb, that's good.'

Yeah, everything I've seen in this field tells me

that the guys working here are being properly looked after.

And they've been supplied by a local licensed gangmaster,

they're getting the legal minimum wage.

Elsewhere in the country, this isn't always the case, though.

Recent research says that there are around 4,000 to 5,000 people

subjected to forced labour in the UK, with the majority of them

in the food industry and that is a conservative estimate.

'These two men know what it's like to work for an illegal gangmaster

'in the British food industry.

'They agreed to speak to me on condition of anonymity.

'They're still worried about retribution

'from the illegal gangmaster who controlled them.

'Both are Slovakian

'and were recruited by the same man in their home town.'

What did he promise you before you left Slovakia?

What did he say would happen for you?

'But when they arrived in the UK, things were very different.'

'Isolated from their friends and families

'and speaking very little English, they say they were made

'to work up to 70 hours a week on a food factory production line.'

How long did this situation continue?

'They told us the gangmaster took away their bank cards

'and passport and force them to live in cramped conditions.'

-You were locked into your rooms?

-Yeah.

-So you can't get outside or have any kind of life?

-No.

He decides when you work.

'When they tried to leave,

'they say the gangmaster made death threats to them.'

It's a side of the UK that I've never seen.

Um, you come to the UK and it feels like you are in a completely

separate world to the one that I understand.

Did you feel that your life was in your own control?

-You were living virtually as slaves under this guy?

-Yes.

I think most of us

would say the experiences those two men have been through

are unacceptable, abhorrent -

living in squalid conditions, working long hours

for a pittance of a wage with no control over their own destiny.

But then you have to look at the food on your plate and say,

"Can I eat this in confidence if I know that the person that prepared

"it may have been living as a slave?"

Come on!

Later on in the programme, we find out what happens when the law

catches up with people allegedly exploiting migrant workers.

Meet Oxford's finest in environmental health -

dynamic duo Richard Kuziara and Rebecca Jeffries.

They rely on pedal power to get where they're needed most.

If there's something wrong and there's an imminent risk to health,

-I will always take action.

-With 18 years in the business,

Richard has a no-nonsense approach to public health.

Some people get really grossed out by cockroaches and stuff like that.

I was the kid at school used to pick insects up.

And he takes NO prisoners.

What really, really annoys me is when you give people a chance,

you set out what the hazards are, and they ignore you.

OK. Get off round here, I reckon.

Today, we're going to a hairdresser's, of all places.

Apparently, we've received a complaint from a member of the public

saying that they're selling bacon sandwiches

and things on the forecourt outside,

so we're just going to go and have a look, see what he's up to.

The Cowboy Mod hair salon is run by owner James.

His trusty sidekick, ex-chef Steve,

is out front selling coffee and hot sandwiches

to the good people of Oxford.

We've got bacon that's cooked off site,

or we've got pulled pork that's, again, cooked off site.

OK. So everything's precooked then, is it, Steve?

I've got a bit of steak that I've been trying the last couple of days.

-That isn't precooked.

-OK.

-Just cos it's steak.

So it's a fairly compact little menu.

But the best things don't always come in small packages.

-Hand washing - how do we do that?

-You've got anti-bac squeeze

-at the back.

-OK.

-And you've got hot water here.

-Right.

-And you've got paper towels...

-I'm not sure I want to put my hands

-in that. How hot is that?

-It's pretty hot, about 90 degrees.

-Right, OK.

What we need is some kind of portable wash hand basin here.

-Rather than just using the hot water here?

-I think so.

-At the very least, it's going to give you dermatitis over time.

-Yeah.

Richard doesn't think water hot enough to make coffee

is suitable to wash hands, but what about Steve's facilities

for keeping things cold?

Where do you keep the steak here?

It's in there. It's portioned.

-These have all got ice packs underneath?

-Yes.

-I use tongs to put it into the pan.

-Eggs - how do you cook them?

-Eggs? In the pan.

-In terms of preparing food,

it's just no good for it, I'm afraid.

So it's not OK at this mini coral.

Steak-slinger Steve may be in trouble.

You haven't got the space for safe food preparation,

because of cross-contamination risks,

and you haven't got a wash hand basin and a food prep sink.

-You're saying no cooking at all, basically.

-Yes.

-OK.

If it was just assembly,

-basically serving stuff that's been precooked elsewhere...

-Yes.

..it's possible, with some changes...

-So, like sandwiches that have been made off site and stuff like that?

-Yeah.

It looks like Steve is all dressed up with nowhere to cook,

and together with the salon owner James,

they agree to a voluntary closure.

-Before you do anything else, just let us know.

-Cool.

Take it easy.

You don't want to be poisoning anyone or looking as though

you don't care if you're going to be poisoning anyone -

not that I will, cos I'm good at cooking.

Later, Richard is back, all guns blazing.

-What's happening?

-We don't have a hand-wash sink.

Meet one of Newcastle's hygiene inspectors -

food safety team manager Paula Davis.

I've disturbed rats' nests, I've had cockroaches crawling over my hands.

Every day is different.

Paula's spent the last 30 years working in environmental health,

and she knows every rule in the food hygiene book.

Making sure that the food sold in Newcastle is

safe for the public to eat is really why I'm here.

Over 2,000 restaurants and takeaways line the streets of Newcastle.

Amongst them Ameens -

a kebab house popular with late-night party-goers -

but it's not got the best track record with Paula and her team.

Just over a year ago, it scored a big, fat zero out of five

for food hygiene, but manager Sacha Akasha

managed to raise the bar to a more acceptable three.

Paula and fellow inspector Caroline are back

for a surprise inspection.

-Hello.

-And they're hoping Mr Akasha hasn't let standards slip.

-Is it OK for us to come through and start the inspection?

-Yes.

We'll go downstairs and see if we can get our hands washed.

Clean hands are the bedrock of good hygiene

so running hot water is often the thing

food inspectors look for first.

Is it going to come hot?

-No?

-No.

We've got a problem with the boiler since yesterday.

So your boiler broke yesterday?

-Yeah.

-So, how are you managing for hot water? Tonight?

We'll boil the kettle.

-Has it got hot water in it now?

-No.

It's very difficult to kill harmful bacteria

with cold water. These guys are handling raw meat

that can contain salmonella and campylobacter.

If they can't wash their hands and equipment properly,

there's a risk of transferring these potentially dangerous bacteria

to their customers.

How are you washing up your knives and your boards tonight?

We're using this bucket.

We keep it in the sink, fill it with the hot water.

-Where are you getting the hot water from?

-We boil the kettle.

I'm nervous about having premises with high-risk food

with absolutely no hot water.

Are you expecting the boiler man to come tomorrow?

We're just waiting for delivery of the boiler.

-They were meant to be today.

-We need to decide what to do tonight, OK,

in terms of...whether we keep the business open.

Paula's been told that the boiler has only just broken down,

so she's keen to identify

any food prepared after the hot water stopped.

-When was this all prepared and cooked?

-Yesterday.

If Paula thinks there's the slightest risk that

the salad was prepped recently, she'll have to shut the place down.

-This will last you all through tonight?

-And tomorrow.

OK. So there's definitely no food preparation going on

-in this basement kitchen tonight?

-No.

-Great.

They might not be preparing any food tonight,

but if they want to stay open

they need to convince Paula and Caroline

they can keep the place clean.

-Do you have a sanitiser?

-Um...

-No?

-What do you mean by that?

Like an antibacterial spray.

-We've got them upstairs.

-Upstairs? OK. We'll have a look at those.

It's a very big deal not to have a working boiler in a food premises

like this. It's scary how often we go to premises

and the boiler failed yesterday.

And as well as that,

I'm not sure yet that he's got any sanitiser,

which is even more of a concern.

Because we've got no hot water,

I'm even more interested than normal

-in whether you've got any sanitiser.

-No, we've just run out.

You've run out?

Mr Akasha says the boiler stopped working yesterday

and the sanitiser's only just run out.

-Is this the area where your food preparation is done?

-Yes.

Without hot water or cleaning products,

there are a few worrying places where bacteria could gather.

Just pull this out.

A leaky sink and the exposed concrete floor.

This, obviously, is bare concrete and there's no way you can clean that.

-We just put in a new floor.

-OK.

Bare concrete is a breeding ground for bacteria.

It's porous and the germs are just held.

They swab all cooking utensils and remove anything that looks infested,

and it's all going to a lab for testing.

All sorts of things can survive on sponges.

If you can imagine where they go and what they're being used for,

they're perfect for bacteria to grow on.

We'll put that in there.

But on the plus side, at least they've got some sanitiser now.

-One at that basin, one downstairs.

-OK.

-Yeah?

But Paula still needs to decide

whether Ameens can stay open tonight.

Do you feel comfortable?

We've got the kettle,

we've the wash hand basin of sorts...

Yeah, OK.

So we're letting you stay open tonight

because we put some measures in place,

but we can't let you go on trading for more than another day

-without hot water.

-OK.

-All right?

If the boilers don't go in,

we're going to have to restrict what food you do at the very least,

and possibly even close until your boilers are sorted out.

-It's a short-term reprieve.

-All right, we'll speak to you tomorrow.

Akasha's got to have hot running water

if he wants to stay open any longer.

Later, Paula is back to check on progress.

-This is the boiler for the main sink...

-Great.

-..for the dishes

-but there's a part missing.

-There's a part missing?

And the swab results are in.

Four of them have come back with quite poor results.

Now most of the food we eat does exactly what it says on the label.

Other food, well, it doesn't need a label but, in the modern world,

food is getting more and more complicated,

so have you ever wondered what is in your food?

Ah. The bacon butty,

the greatest sandwich in the world.

A sandwich, a British invention, and that bacon is part of

the full English breakfast, a meal respected across the globe.

BUT I've been reading a lot about processed red meat and

-how it may be bad for you and that includes bacon.

-Good grief,

is there nothing I can enjoy without worrying about it?

How about a bowl of steamed spinach?

That's not going to work in my butty, I'm afraid.

OK, let me just show you this, OK?

87% pork but it also says nitrates and nitrites.

What are nitrates and nitrites?

I don't know - can you go and find out?

Simply put, bacon is usually cured pork,

that's pork with salts added either dry or in a solution called brine.

Sometimes it's also smoked

and we consume almost 220,000 tonnes of it every year.

But there can be a huge price gap between economy bacon

and the so-called posh stuff, which can easily cost twice as much.

Do we need to worry about any differences between the two?

Do we need to worry about bacon at all? Time to find out.

First up, let's see how the mass produced stuff

can sometimes be made.

So what I want to know

is how do the big boys do it on an industrial scale?

'I've come to Manchester Metropolitan University

'to meet Dr Daniel Anang,

'a lecturer in Food Science and Technology.

'Daniel is going to teach me

'how in some factories they turn pork into bacon.

'These two pork joints have started at the same weight.'

That's also about three kilograms.

'This is the same sort of brine they use

'in some types of mass production.'

-Now this is the old injector.

-Injector, it is.

And I can imagine a big machine in a factory just pumping away, right?

Yes.

'Every inch of the meat is injected with salt water or brine to turn

'the pork into bacon and add bulk.'

That last injection, you've almost reached what I would consider

-is like a saturation point.

-Yes.

'A lot of mass produced pork is simply soaked in the brine.

'Look on the label for the water content, anything above 10% has to

'be declared. Although that should soon be going down to 5%.'

-Right, so can we weigh it now?

-Yeah, please do.

-OK.

Its weight has increased by a sixth.

And let's compare and you actually see the difference.

-This is like a darker side already, it's a bit more pumped up.

-Yes.

-This is super pork.

-Exactly.

'And to speed the process up, they put the meat and more brine

'into a tumbler for at least two hours.'

-Are you sure you haven't left your undies in here, Daniel?

-Yes.

'Tumbling the meat allows it to absorb even more of the brine.'

-That is nothing like the original piece of meat, is it?

-Exactly.

I've got to say, Daniel,

you're doing a very good job of putting me off bacon.

Let's go and see how much this weighs. Ready?

Well, that is amazing. We've added a kilogram, is that a third?

Isn't it? To our original product.

'The meat might've been turned into bacon but it's too soggy to slice

'so manufacturers have to blast freeze it for about 15 minutes.'

-That looks like bacon.

-Yes.

But I've seen the whole process

and I still don't know what was in that brine they were using.

-What do they use?

-Salt, water, and the most important part...

..nitrites and nitrates.

-But you're adding artificial nitrites to the process.

-Yes, yes.

So what are we talking about?

Well, sodium nitrate is a naturally-occurring salt

that turns into a nitrite in the pork.

Extra nitrite may be added to speed up the process,

fight dangerous bacteria,

and it gives it that bacony flavour and colour.

Should we be concerned about that?

There are reports that indicate that nitrites is connected to a chemical

that can lead to cancer.

Mass-produced bacon usually has either has nitrates or nitrites

or both added. Doctor Anang says this could be a concern.

As we've seen, it can also have a lot of added water.

So, how can the so-called posh stuff be made?

Is there really that much difference? Gaby, back to you.

James Swift is an award-winning bacon maker.

He uses one of the more expensive methods called dry curing,

a technique used since the Middle Ages.

So what's the difference between your type of bacon

and the type of bacon you get in the supermarket?

We're dry curing, so we're putting dry salt in.

So what do we have here, then?

OK, well, we've got the three stages of the bacon making.

This is a fresh piece of meat here.

Nicely marbled bit of meat, so it's got a bit of fat running through it.

This is a loin, so this is back bacon.

If you were to do this with a piece of belly pork

it would be streaky bacon.

This is halfway through the process. This is fully matured, ready to eat.

-And how long from there to there?

-Ten days.

-Oh, right, OK.

How old's this one that's all squidgy?

That's been going three days.

And there's all the fluid coming out.

Yeah, the salt's going into the meat

and the water's coming out of the meat.

So, I'm going to take a freezer bag,

we're going to add the salt to the meat...

Rub it in, make sure it's all over every side.

-That's all you have to do.

-I can't believe how simple it is.

-So curing is basically just adding salt.

-It is.

Now, this is curing salt.

Curing salt has sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate in there.

They're preservatives.

'Ah, there are those nitrates and nitrites again.

'The same additives Chris saw going into the economy bacon.'

They also give that characteristic red colour to bacon,

and they also give something of the bacony flavour.

'So, whether it's mass produced, dry or wet cured the traditional way,

'it's likely your bacon has nitrates or nitrites or both added.'

This could be harmful to me, can it?

'Later, Chris finds out why some experts think this is a big problem.'

If you have processed meat, the more you have, the more likely

you are to get something called cancer of the bowel.

And I give the news to some big bacon lovers.

It's just the word cancer would put you off.

I've been finding out about forced labour that could play a vital part

in picking your fruit and veg, or in packing and processing your food.

It's a shocking and hidden part of Britain's food economy,

but the police are starting to take action against the criminal gangs

exploiting these workers.

There is a Section 8 warrant for the premises. Any questions?

It's an operation that's been running for several months here

in Fenland and it's all about exploitation of migrant workers.

It's a problem that's been developing for a while.

It's fair to say that all the authorities have probably been

unaware of its significance.

POLICE SHOUT

Tonight this police crackdown arrested nine people in the area.

Jump!

One man was later charged with a number of crimes,

which not only included operating as an illegal gangmaster,

but also blackmail and fraud.

The gangmaster's licensing authority says this case is typical

of exploitation taking place

in factories and farms across the country.

There are some very high-class organised crime groups

coming in and working completely in the shadows and exploiting people.

The criminals have got a head start and we're playing catch up,

and that's always difficult.

And the GLA isn't the only body playing catch up.

The government's calling this type of thing "modern-day slavery",

and are only just starting to get to grips with it.

In December,

they published new proposals to tackle slavery in all its forms,

but some critics argue that it doesn't go far enough.

They want the industry to be made more accountable.

MP Michael Connarty will be part of the review.

There's no doubt in my mind that the people responsible for this

are the supermarkets. They're the final sales point to the consumer.

They're, therefore, responsible to the consumer for making sure, back

down the line, in the supply chain, they are not using slave labour.

It's about trading in human beings to keep the food cost down,

and I don't think the public are happy with that.

Come back later, when we'll find out what the

supermarkets are doing to stamp out slave labour.

We are realists that there is more work to be done here, cos

this is a supply chain which has had criminal activity involved in it.

In Oxford, the Cowboy Mud boys were serving hot food in cramped

conditions on the pavement, outside their hair salon.

In terms of preparing food, it's just no good, I'm afraid.

There was no hand basin,

no fridge and the wooden surfaces were impossible to clean.

You're saying no cooking at all, basically.

-I'm saying no cooking at all.

-OK.

After a visit from Richard, they agree to a voluntary closure

until some of the requirements were met.

Two weeks on, and "Sheriff Richard" is back in town,

to follow up on what Steve and James are up to.

Nice to see you. What's happening?

We've been carrying on with a simplified offer -

just a coffee, basically. So we're got Jill, a friend of ours,

she's helping out making coffee some mornings.

-James put a fridge in, so we've go nice cold milk.

-OK.

We don't have a hand wash sink, but I think you intimated that we might be

all right with that, providing we're just sticking to the coffee thing.

In a last-ditch stand, the cowboys have rustled up a few cupcakes.

-We're not quite sure how you feel about that.

-Looks very pretty.

I mean, it is under cover - just about.

-How about a little dome for it?

-Yeah.

-Did you make these?

-Yeah.

-Good. Looks good. I'm getting hungry!

Let me have a quick poke round here.

This is literally just milk and a coffee machine?

-No problem.

-Looks like this show is back on the road.

It's never easy closing a place.

Just great to see it back up and running again.

It's running, it's cool, people are selling good coffee,

so it's all good.

We've still got this idea of setting up a cafe/diner,

with the food we were doing from before,

and sort of taking this and going,

"Right, let's do it properly somewhere."

I look forward to coming and having an eat.

-Cheers, lads.

-Bye. Take care.

Really positive visit. They're nice guys.

It's good that they can continue trading.

In terms of food safety hazards, that's been sorted out...mostly.

Hopefully those cakes will get covered the next time I walk past,

but basically, I'm happy.

Now, I love a bacon sandwich, but by the sounds of it,

I can have too much of a good thing.

But how much is too much when it comes to bacon?

I've learnt that most bacon, either cheap or expensive,

has either nitrates or nitrites, or both, added.

Professor Martin Wiseman is the medical scientific advisor

to the World Cancer Research Fund.

He's been involved in a study which has revealed some shocking results.

I've been told bacon and ham could be bad for me. Is that right?

That is right. If you have processed meat,

the more you have, the more likely you are to get something called cancer of the bowel.

Let's go back a step - what is processed meat?

Processed meat, from the point of

view of the World Cancer Research Fund International,

is any red meat - beef, pork, lamb, or if you're in different countries

horse or goat, that has gone through

a chemical process of smoking, salting or curing.

What's in this innocent piece of bacon?

I looked on the label, it said nitrates and nitrites -

I'm a bit scared when I hear names like that.

Could that contribute?

Some people think that the chemicals themselves might have an effect,

but most likely, it's that what those things are doing is changing

the chemical composition in the meat,

so that when it's digested normally in the body,

it creates chemicals that are more likely to give you cancer.

And the equation is simple - the more you eat, the more dangerous?

That, as far as we can tell, is what we call a linear relationship -

the more you eat, the higher the risk.

So how much, in your opinion, is too much?

If you were to consume, on a daily basis,

for the whole of your adult life something like 50 grams of,

say bacon, every day,

we think that you'd increase your risk by one fifth - 20%.

I thought it would be a lot more than that,

but couple of rashers - that's possible.

Quite a lot of people do,

so we think that about 10% of bowel cancer can be attributed to the

effect of processed meat, on a nationwide basis.

So there's no acceptable level

for processed meat as far as your concerned?

From the World Cancer Research Fund's point of view,

we recommend that people avoid processed meat

completely in order to reduce their risk of cancer.

Now this is far from being an undisputed scientific fact.

The government says we can safely eat up to 70 grams of processed

meat a day - that's about three rashers of bacon.

Dr Carrie Ruxton is a dietician who sits

on the Meat Advisory Panel, which is

supported by meat industry bodies to advise on red meat and diet.

She disagrees with the professor's findings.

I'm saying there's no proven causal effect of red meat in cancer,

and the government's Advisory Committee on Nutrition acknowledged

that when they said they were talking a precautionary approach,

so they said that there was a "probable" link.

From the available evidence we have, it is simply not possible to pinpoint

just one food in somebody's total lifestyle and say,

"That is the thing that is responsible for bowel cancer."

But does Dr Ruxton think we should be concerned about those

nitrates and nitrites,

and would she put any limit on how much bacon we can eat?

There's quite a lot of evidence showing that nitrates and nitrites

from vegetable sources have a beneficial impact on blood pressure.

You could not have bacon or ham without using these substances.

I'm quite happy with the government's recommendation of up

to 70 grams a day of red and processed meat,

because what it does is it includes a risk benefit analysis,

taking into account the valuable role of meat in providing iron,

and as we're eating currently, on average, 72 grams a day of red and

processed meat, we're already in line

with the government's recommendations.

Many of us eat more than the daily government guidelines -

all it takes is a full English breakfast

to put you right on the edge.

Even if you thought it was a good idea to cut down,

would die-hard bacon lovers be able to?

This cafe in North London caters to a very discerning clientele.

Working around the clock, London's black cabbies

are at the front of the queue for the full English.

Gaby's going to see

if Professor Wiseman's research is enough to put them off their bacon.

Gentlemen, who likes bacon.

-ALL:

-Yes. We all like bacon!

-OK, you all like bacon.

Put your hands up if you have bacon once a month.

Yeah? Once a week?

Every day?

Every single day of your life?

Well, I wouldn't say every day,

but every day of the week I have a bacon sandwich.

OK, everybody have a bacon sandwich, but do not...

-MAN:

-Eat it.

..eat it - yes!

Have your bacon sandwich.

There we go.

OK. Yeah?

-Go on, Paul.

-I won't eat you, I've just had a fry-up.

LAUGHTER

OK.

So, if you were to have two rashers of bacon every day,

this is how much bacon you have eaten in the past year, my darling.

-ALL: Ooh! PAUL:

-Wow!

-That is shocking.

-That is shocking, yeah.

'This mountain of meat consists of 730 slices bacon,

'the equivalent of two rashers of bacon every day for a year.'

Gaby, this is my starter, what's my main course?

GABY CHUCKLES

'Now to hit them with the professor's findings.

'Is it enough to scare my cabbies?'

If you were to eat two rashers of bacon a day for a prolonged period

of time, you increase your chance of getting colon cancer by 20%.

SILENCE

Anyone here know what colon cancer is?

-Just the word cancer would put you off.

-OK.

Now I know about this,

because my father was diagnosed 18 years ago and, thank God, he's OK.

He survived it.

-Does that make you feel differently?

-Yeah, definitely. That shocked me.

-That really has shocked me.

-And you've got kids, haven't you?

-I've got to girls, yeah.

-How old are your girls?

-11 and 7.

Bowel cancer, after lung cancer,

is the biggest killer from cancer in the UK.

One in 17 people will get bowel cancer and it's largely preventable.

Has this made any of you feel differently about what you eat?

Yeah, definitely.

I think every time I have a fry-up or a bacon sandwich now,

I'm going to sort of...

A picture of that plate's in my mind now. But, yeah, it is...

-It's certainly made me think twice.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

Gentleman, do you want to eat your bacon sarnies?

THEY CHUCKLE

You're not seriously going to eat that?!

I've just said if you consume 50g of bacon a day

it can be harmful to your health.

Yes, but this sandwich contains 350g of bacon,

and last week I didn't have any.

So I'm playing catch-up.

Can I get some brown sauce?

Newcastle, fast-food takeaway Ameens

had a broken boiler and no hot water.

It's a very big deal not to have

a working boiler in a food premises like this.

Food inspector Paul Davis allowed them

to stay open for the evening because all their food had been

prepared while the boiler was still functioning.

But we can't let you go on trading for more than another day

without hot water.

Today, Paula's back to meet manager Mr Akasha

and check that the new boiler has been installed.

Failure to do so will result in an instant closure.

I've been trying all day to get in touch with them and I'm

a bit disappointed actually because I did ask him to phone me today

with a bit of progress on how he was getting on.

So because he hasn't been in touch with me,

I must admit I'm fearful that we've made no progress today.

Excuse me?

Hello?

Hmm, Paula's fears may be realised.

There are workmen on site but no sign of manager Akasha.

I'm thinking we might at least need to close

until the boiler situation is sorted out cos typically,

at 5:30, 6 o'clock, you'd be doing all your preparation,

all your high-risk salad prep

and I'm nervous about that going on without any proper cleaning.

Are you going to show me what they've been doing today?

We'll see what they've been doing. Show me the boiler.

Just as Paula goes downstairs to check on progress...

Are you on the phone to him?

-Hello?

-..Mr Akasha calls in.

I did make it clear that the water situation had be sorted out today.

We'll just agree now that we'll stop all food preparation

until the boiler's sorted out.

Finally, an hour after Paula first arrived, Akasha turns up.

-This is the boiler for the main sink.

-Great.

-For the dishes.

-Great.

-I've got two small ones here for the washbasin.

-Washbasin, yeah.

-To wash hands.

-And it seems as if he's got everything under control.

-But there's a part missing.

-There's a part missing?

Or maybe not.

The missing boiler part means there'll be no hot water tonight.

Until that's sorted out, we're going to close the doors

and we're going to do a voluntary closure.

-To make sure everything gets cleaned.

-Yes.

-Then...

-And then we get open.

And then we'll be ready.

And hopefully we'll get you opened, well, as soon as possible.

All right?

OK, so can we just put these lights out?

If we can just make sure we shut it all up, please? That's great.

-Please don't open without telling me.

-We're not opening.

-We're not serving anybody without your permission.

-Right. OK.

'Closing a business down is never a nice thing to do.

'We know that they rely on their evening trade for the business.'

There's four or five jobs there. You want these businesses to succeed.

It's good for the city

when businesses are working well and succeeding.

No, it's never good

and never feels nice to jeopardise somebody's business.

Later...

We're back to square one in some senses.

We've now got no hot water again.

It's starting to look like Groundhog Day for Paula.

-Are you going to go and buy new boiler?

-Year, a new one.

And the dreaded swab results are back.

They're really high levels of bacteria.

Boiler dramas. Hot water. It's been a nightmare.

Earlier in the programme,

I discovered the terrible conditions endured by some workers being

exploited by unscrupulous gangmasters in our food industry...

Get in there!

..and the tough action that police are taking to bring

those responsible to justice.

Now we expect our supermarkets to sell us safe, clean food.

But what steps should we expect them to take to make sure

none of our food is being produced by exploited workers?

So, how can you know if the person who's picked your cabbage

or cauliflower has been properly looked after,

or if they are what the Government is calling a "modern-day slave"?

All of these supermarkets have been supplied by companies that have been

in trouble due to the use of forced labour in their own supply chains.

There is no suggestion that the supermarkets knew about this.

They didn't employ forced labour directly,

it was several stages removed in the supply chain.

All the supermarkets mentioned have assured us that they

take action whenever abuse comes to light.

They're all members of industrywide initiatives

designed to fight the exploitation of labour.

Would you be surprised if I told you that these goods,

or ones very much like them, they were produced by forced labour?

Mm, I would be surprised, yes.

-I would be surprised and I would be annoyed.

-Why would you be annoyed?

Well, I don't know. Forced labour, that doesn't sound very good to me.

-Were you aware of that at all?

-No. I'm shocked.

-Who should be sorting this out?

-The supermarkets.

They say these guys are criminal gangs

that just slip into the work market.

They should know who they are buying from.

They should know where the source is.

So they should be responsible for it, not us.

If you could find a supermarket that could guarantee you that

forced labour had played no part

in the goods that it was selling you...

If I could find one then, yeah. But for me it's more cost than...

Which sounds really bad

but I wouldn't want to pay more. I don't know.

So, what other supermarkets doing?

After all, they are the biggest players in the industry.

I'm off to the British Retail Consortium, a trade body

that represents all sorts of shops including supermarkets, to find out.

We pay our suppliers a sufficient price to make sure that they

adequately reward their employees

and their contractors in line with Government policy.

You can't guarantee that food produced here in the UK

is free of slavery.

-What we can...

-You can't guarantee.

What I can show, if you let me finish...

What I can show people, and our companies can show consumers,

is the audits that they carry out,

what happens within those audits

and also the fact that they are then going beyond the direct suppliers

and processers that may be packing the fruit vegetables

you were talking about, further down the chain,

by running random audits in those kind of factories,

working with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority

and working with the suppliers to tackle the limited number of cases.

But you're not prepared to comprehensively audit every

single supplier, every single worker

that works for the supermarkets in this country,

so you can't guarantee it.

We want anybody in our supply chain to be properly treated,

and we want to route out the criminal gangs -

and it is criminal gangs - that are acting here.

That's why we go beyond the work that we do in our processing plants,

also to look at how we give, for example,

the signs of forced labour to people who might be suppliers

to our suppliers to our suppliers.

So, much further down the supply chain.

What you're telling me, then,

is that there will never be a time when you can guarantee me

that every leek, cauliflower, sprout, chicken

that's been produced in this country has been produced ethically.

That is absolutely our aspiration to get to that point.

But we are realists that there is more work to be done here,

because this is a supply chain which has had criminal activity

involved in it, and it is absolutely unacceptable to have forced labour

in our supply chain, and we have taken a lot of steps towards it,

but it is a very, very difficult and complex situation to solve.

While that's the case, we may well come across more young men

like the two we saw earlier in the programme,

being held against their will, paid £10 a week,

just so we can have food on our plates.

As many as a million of us every single year in the UK

gets food poisoning -

and I'm not just talking about feeling a bit poorly.

20,000 of us will end up in hospital,

and sadly in 500 cases it proves fatal.

So, each week I'm going to be telling you

about Britain's worst cases of food poisoning,

hopefully giving you a few useful tips

to make sure you're not the next victim.

These are the Poison Files.

This Poison File comes from Barnsley in Yorkshire,

and this particular story ends up with a trip to hospital.

In June 2012, Lisa Fairclough

asked her partner to do a regular supermarket shop.

It was late in the afternoon,

so he decided to pick up a ready roast chicken straight off the spit

to have at home for dinner.

Me husband had the top half of the chicken,

and I had the bottom. The underneath part.

I just had a chicken sandwich.

That's what I had.

Worst mistake of my life.

Now, this hasn't been proven,

but Lisa thinks the chicken she was eating

had been contaminated with campylobacter,

present in around 65% of raw chickens in the UK.

And it can be really dangerous -

around 110 people die of it every year.

And what's more alarming is that even when campylobacter is ingested,

you may not see the symptoms of food poisoning for two to five days.

But once it's entered the mouth, the clock is ticking.

Lisa first started to feel unwell just 24 hours

after eating the chicken.

It was the Tuesday evening.

I can remember going to bed that night, and it was like a fever.

I was dripping with sweat,

but at the same time, I was freezing, and shivering as well.

When I woke up the next morning, I didn't feel well.

But I thought I'd try and go to work.

I drove to work, just about made it to work,

and then...the diarrhoea started, which was really, really bad.

The chicken had been purchased from a store

where raw and cooked chickens were handled and sold

by the same staff in areas close to each other.

This is not unusual, but it does mean staff must be very careful

that bacteria like campylobacter

doesn't spread from raw to cooked meat.

Later, a council investigation focused on the store's use

of liquid sanitiser.

Firstly, some of them didn't know how to mix it properly

in the right proportions,

and secondly,

they know how long to leave it on a surface before wiping it away.

I went to the doctor's and she did my pulse. She said it was really high.

My temperature as well.

And she said I was severely dehydrated.

So she sent me straight in to hospital.

Doctors put her on a drip, and her mum went straight to the hospital

when she heard how ill she was.

When we walked in the ward where she was, she looked really bad.

She'd no colour.

She was like in a daze.

She was crying, she was upset - just because of the way she felt,

how poorly she felt.

I've had stomach bugs before, but the diarrhoea was like black.

It was uncontrollable.

I had to wear an adult's nappy,

and it was just - I had no control over my body at all.

And the stench was absolutely shocking.

Even my husband that thinks the world of me and loves me

says the stench was just like the sewers, it was really, really bad.

I felt really embarrassed about it.

And it was just...it was degrading.

That I had no control over myself in that way.

So...it was hell, really.

Lisa's GP later diagnosed gastroenteritis

caused by campylobacter.

We don't know for sure how she caught it.

We do know that 65% of all chickens carry the disease,

and it's one of the easiest food bugs to catch.

And it CAN happen in your kitchen too.

You've got to be really careful.

And a lot of people say the best way of taking precautions

is giving it a wash under the tap.

Well, I'm going to tell you,

you might be causing yourself a few problems.

Let me show you my chicken under ultraviolet light.

Well, I've covered my chicken in an ultraviolet powder and liquid,

and that is going to represent campylobacter.

I'm then going to give it a good old-fashioned wash under the tap,

and let's see what happens.

I've got to put my mask on.

Health and safety reasons -

don't want any bacteria splashing into my face and mouth.

Turn on the taps.

Lovely.

Right, chicken down.

I hope you can still see me under the ultraviolet light.

I'll take my mask off.

And let's see what damage we have done.

Well, let's start with the back wall.

As you can see, the campylobacter has splattered everywhere.

Look at my salad!

Some of it's actually made it in there. Look at the sponge.

That's got traces of campylobacter. That is a real danger.

Plus the utensils that I've already washed, that I think are safe,

have also got traces of campylobacter.

So, please, be very careful when you handle raw chicken,

and think again about running it under the tap.

Coming up, I find out how to avoid cross-contamination.

-Lovely, cheers, mate. Thank you...

-Whoa, whoa!

If I gave this to you, you could be seriously ill.

Looks like I've got a lot to learn.

Newcastle's very own Queen of Hygiene, Paula Davis,

has shut down troubled takeaway Ameens.

Please don't open without telling me.

Just two weeks ago they had no hot water,

and no way of cleaning anything on-site.

I did make it clear that the water situation had to be sorted out today.

After a few busy days,

manager Mr Akasha did get his new boiler installed,

and Ameens was allowed to reopen.

But it wasn't the only problem.

They still needed to sort out the bare concrete floor in the basement

and the leaky sink.

Ameens has now been up and running for ten days,

and today Paula's back for an update.

Obviously, if he hasn't done all the jobs tonight,

we'll have to think what action we take next,

but we'll get down and have a look and see what's going on.

First, she needs to wash her hands, but surprise, surprise,

there's no hot water.

The brand-new boiler is on the blink,

and there are workmen on site again.

Just two minutes, OK?

Are you going to go buy a new boiler?

- Yeah, a new one, OK? - OK.

I've just come to do the revisit and a whole

host of people have just come out of the downstairs preparation area.

I understand they're working on a problem with the boiler again.

-Yes. The boiler has just broken.

-OK.

So now they're going to buy a brand-new one again.

-So we're back to square one. We've not got no hot water again.

-Yes.

Are you closing the premises for the time being?

-I'm going to close till I get...

-OK.

Boiler dramas, hot water, joiner, electrician.

It's been nightmare, these two, three weeks.

It's been nightmare for me.

Hopefully tomorrow,

by two o'clock in the afternoon, the boiler will be fixed.

They may be closing for business,

but Paula's work here isn't done yet.

Previously, she swabbed a selection of cooking

and cleaning equipment, and now she has the results.

One of the worst offenders was the dismal-looking sponge on the sink.

That came up very poor.

One of the chopping boards, again, really high levels of bacteria,

so they were the ones that were unsatisfactory.

Because we had no hot water.

No hot water, you had no sprays, your cloths were dirty.

Really, your means of cleaning that night was poor.

Next, Paula heads downstairs to check on the other problems

she'd highlighted.

The kitchen floor was bare concrete - a breeding ground for bacteria.

So, obviously, I can see the floor's been laid. Is that just stuck?

You'll have to just be careful that doesn't lift

and you get dirt caught under it.

But...great.

The leaking sink has now been fixed.

And this whole sink area does look better.

Akasha has worked hard to raise standards,

but Paula wants to make sure he maintains them.

Cleaning your hands, cleaning your knives, cleaning your boards,

cleaning your containers, is all essential to make sure that the

levels of bacteria on your food is kept to an absolute minimum.

A second shutdown in just two weeks isn't good news for Akasha,

especially as he claims the broken boiler wasn't his fault.

The boiler let me down.

Unfortunate, but tomorrow we have to buy a new boiler and fit it again.

Akasha fixed the boiler and reopened the following day.

He's now working closely with Paula

and her team to make further improvements at Ameens.

I am relieved. I have to maintain the place as clean as this.

I'm hoping to get five stars.

I know it's too much to ask for, but that's what I'm hoping for.

We heard earlier how Lisa Fairclough from Barnsley was

struck down with a case of campylobacter so severe

she had to be admitted to hospital.

The cause of the food poisoning - cross contamination.

I'm visiting fifth generation butcher Danny Lidgate to find out how to void it.

Danny, nice to meet you.

I'd shake your hand but you've got a knife in it.

Yeah, no problem.

Can I have a couple of chicken fillets...?

'But first, he's going to show us what not to do.

'When you visit a butcher, watch out for these basic errors.'

-A couple of these will be nice for you.

-Done.

'First, Danny slices some raw chicken. So far, so good.'

-Nice bits of chicken, that.

-So, something like that.

-Really nice, yeah? Perfect.

-Absolutely perfect.

-OK.

Three or four slices of ham, nice and thin, for a sandwich.

I've got a nice piece of honey roast ham here...

'He's now picked up some cooked ham, but he hasn't washed his hands.'

Great, lovely.

'And he's now using the same knife on the same board.'

I think that's just about enough. Thanks, mate.

I'll wrap it all up for you nicely.

'This is a carrier bag of contamination.

'Those bad practices we've seen would mean I could be taking home food poisoning.'

-Lovely, cheers.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa!

If I gave this to you, you could be seriously ill.

-Looks like I've got a lot to learn.

-Most definitely.

Take me under your wing, teach me about cross contamination?

Definitely, Chris. Come with me.

Danny runs this 160-year-old business

and he prides himself on having a five-star hygiene rating.

Right, in the butcher's den.

So, Chris, this is where we do all our raw meat preparation.

These two guys here are doing raw meat manufacturing at the moment.

Nathan's boning out a sirloin, James is cutting up some lamb.

They won't touch any cooked meat today.

OK, is it cooked meat around the corner, or is it...?

No, completely upstairs. We have to go up a flight of stairs

and we've got the cooked meat kitchen.

So, you've got different floors for cooked meat and raw meat.

We have different staff, different floors, different uniforms.

It's as far away as possible as it can be.

Has it always been like that?

Probably many moons ago it was a little bit more relaxed

and some people may have done practises

that wouldn't be done today, but these days,

everyone's a lot more aware of food poisoning,

what causes food poisoning, so by keeping separate areas it

gives a happier staff, happier customer base and a happier boss.

-Which is the most important thing.

-Yeah!

-OK, will you show me cooked meat people?

-Let's go.

-Do they look anything like them?

-Completely different.

-Really?

So, raw meat is kept well away from the cooked products Danny sells.

He even provides different uniforms for the people working in the

two areas.

Right, the cooked meat section.

This is our pie kitchen, where we have Monica and Yurgoda.

Hello, nice to meet you.

You're right, they do look different. Much friendlier.

They have different uniforms, they work in a different area.

You are taking the most, I suppose, severe precautions.

What about people at home?

They go buy their meat from a supermarket or a local butcher.

What should they look out for?

Things like, not wearing plastic aprons,

using the same utensils - maybe a knife for some raw meat

and some cooked meat, not washing their hands,

coughing and sneezing all over the place and general cleanliness.

If you see a butcher who's covered in muck around his apron,

he's got bacteria all over him, so clean people makes a difference.

Brilliant stuff, Danny.

I've changed my mind about the chicken and the ham,

I fancy one of those pies.

-No problem, let's go get you one.

-Brilliant. Bye!

Well, Danny's given us a few useful tips there.

If you're buying raw and cooked meat

and you see your butcher using the same chopping block, using the

same utensils, and he's not washing his hands in-between, then run.

Run for your life. And, by the way, those rules apply at home as well.

Is that Chinese?

Yeah, chicken chow mein - fresh veg, noodles, chicken - lovely!

Do you know, during this series, I developed the uncanny ability

to detect bacteria using my sense of taste alone?

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Go on, show me.

-Yeah, that seems fine.

-Is it all right?

I'm just having a bit more, just to make sure.

-Brilliant, eh?

-Yeah, it's fine. I think this is clear, yeah.

Good night.

Next week, Richard uncovers a potential banquet for pests.

Cleaning's shocking. That is absolutely filthy.

But Nicky finds the real thing.

You've got cockroaches.

Seven years on from bird flu,

what's the latest crisis facing the poultry business?

When can you tell me

that campylobacter won't be the problem it is right now?

And what's really in some of those chicken nuggets?

It really is, it's disgusting.