Episode 4 Food Fighters


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We're a nation of food lovers, and today there's more choice than ever.

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Whether you're eating in or taking away,

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there's always the chance that something can go wrong.

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So it's a good job there's a whole army of people working hard

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to keep us safe.

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They're the food fighters.

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30, 35...

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From the ocean to the ovens,

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we follow the food fighters looking after our fish.

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People will be very concerned about the tar on the walls.

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-That's 100 years of tar. We've never cleaned the walls.

-No.

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Is this food fighter about to get ratty?

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If you've got an open drain, old Roland will come popping out of it.

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And on the front line with the combat chefs.

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-Talk me through this oven, Wayne!

-The oven is a bin.

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Our love affair with Oriental food is not a new one.

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The country's first Chinese restaurant opened over a century ago in London.

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From small beginnings there are now restaurants and takeaways near all of us.

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But just who's checking our favourite meals are safe to eat?

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We've been following environmental health officers around the country

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and today two of them are inspecting Chinese food.

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Chinatown in London's West End.

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It's been the heart of the capital's Chinese community for 50 years.

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Today, tourists and locals flock to the area,

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sampling dishes from Mongolia to Hong Kong.

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It's also food inspector Sarah Quinn's stomping ground

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and today she's at Fu Zhou.

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Hello, my name's Sarah. I've just come down from Environmental Health.

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The customers at Fu Zhou enjoy their meal upstairs

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but the kitchens here are down below.

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First on Sarah's list is the food.

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But knowing what's being cooked is a little tricky.

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-She calls on duty manager Frances to help out.

-What are these?

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-This is sweet potato paste.

-OK.

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You have to steam the sweet potato first and then mash it

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and mix with some noodles...

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-Yeah.

-Boil the noodle and mash it with some potato and flour.

-Yeah.

-Right?

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-To cook these - just in the wok?

-At the moment they are boiling it.

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-OK. They boil it in the wok?

-15 to 20 minutes.

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The cooking is top notch here.

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In fact, a plus side of Chinese cooking is the use of very high temperatures,

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perfect for killing those food poisoning nasties.

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A lot of this food is imported, so their labelling is in Chinese.

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Sarah needs to know they're all safe.

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I've got some octopus down here.

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I'm making sure it's come from a premises

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and a country that we would accept.

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It's imported by a British company.

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It's got an EU number, which would be the approval number,

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so the octopus is fine to be served.

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Sarah noses around noodles from Korea and oysters from China.

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We're fine, we've got EU approval number.

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It's been checked and we're good.

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These labels tell Sarah that a whole load of checks have already

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been carried out to make sure the food is fit to eat.

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Now Sarah must carry out these checks herself.

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The last time I was here there was a large fish ball-making machine

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and they were talking about preparing all the fish balls and selling it on to other businesses.

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It's a process that would require more strict procedures in place.

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I want to make sure what they're doing with the fish balls,

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I want to see how they're making their fish balls and where they're selling it to.

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The balls are handmade in this kitchen and then popped into a pack.

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Important information like shelf life could get lost in translation,

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so it's important they're labelled properly.

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So, how do you do the packaging? Where's your machine for...?

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The last time Sarah was here, she gave tips on how to pack up the product.

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Will her advice have been taken?

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So, they've put the fish balls that were made here by hand,

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put them into the bag and then the bag's been sealed.

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The guy has got clean gloves on his hands,

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so we're not worried about any cross-contamination issues.

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It gives the consumer the information that they need.

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It tells them how to prepare the food, what to do with it.

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There's a clear warning here saying it's not ready to eat.

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The food must be cooked before consumption.

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If those details weren't on the packaging,

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weren't on the labelling, consumers would be misled, misguided.

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All the information is there for them.

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I'm really pleased with the work that they've done.

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This restaurant in London's Chinatown seems to have taken on board food fighter advice.

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But throughout Britain there are thousands more Chinese restaurants

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and takeaways needing to be inspected.

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The Dragon Bowl in suburban Oxford.

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Lying in a converted house on a busy road,

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it serves wok-fried Chinese classics.

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How are you doing?

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Checking they're making meals safely is Richard Kuziara.

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The main thing that goes wrong bacteriologically,

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or that can go wrong, is the rice if that's mishandled.

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Bacteria loves rice, especially when it's left in the temperature danger zone,

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which is between 8 and 63 degrees.

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These bacteria produce poisonous toxins

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and no amount of cooking will ever get rid of them.

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Now there's a simple way of stopping that bacteria taking hold.

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Right, OK.

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A rice cooker, and Dragon Bowl has one.

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The rice cookers are good because you can preset the temperature

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and then once the rice is cooked you can keep it hot.

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Instead of it cooling down and you having to reheat it,

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you've got it sitting there at the right temperature.

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Bacteria hate the cold,

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so a working fridge is a must-have in any kitchen.

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The temperatures are good.

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It's good that everything's in containers on the whole.

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It's good that things are wrapped up.

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It's looking pretty good, to be honest.

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Your hand contact surfaces are pretty clean.

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There's still one big issue to resolve here.

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This takeaway used to be home to a family of rodents

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and Richard wants to see if the rats have done a runner.

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We can see real evidence of rats running around this corner here.

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That pipe's filthy.

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What I'm seeing here is lots of smear marks.

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Rodents have definitely been here at some stage.

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I need to establish whether they're still here.

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This Chinese check-up has suddenly become a lot more serious.

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This has been a rat motorway. You see where they've chewed it all?

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How the food fighters protect our forces.

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If 100 people go down with diarrhoea and vomiting or food poisoning

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you've wiped out quite a big location.

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Now, I love cooking with fish

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and sea bass like this is my absolute favourite,

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but how can we be sure what we see on our fishmonger's counter is safe to eat?

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From the docks to the dinner plates the food fighters

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have been out in force and we've been with them.

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Grimsby, the undisputed centre of the UK fish industry.

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Every year, around 18,000 tonnes comes through here.

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SHOUTING AND CHATTER

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When you buy your haddock or hake, the chances are pretty good

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that it's been through Grimsby fish market...

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..and that this man has had something to do with it.

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My name's Chris Melville. It's my job to make sure that food coming into the port is safe to eat.

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CHATTER

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It's five o'clock in the morning.

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While most of us are still fast asleep, the buying and bidding

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at one of Europe's largest fish markets is in full swing.

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Chris is here to check it's all fit to eat.

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It's frenetic and frantic and a lot of arguing and shouting.

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It happens every single day so it's perfectly normal for these people.

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Chris is Grimsby's Principal Port Health Officer.

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And as the merchants do battle, he casts his eye over the goods.

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He's checking that nothing here is going to leave people feeling green about the gills.

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First up, a crate full of cod.

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The fundamental purpose is to ensure it's fit for human consumption.

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That's our critical reason for being here.

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The first thing that strikes you is the general appearance.

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They're bright, they're colourful.

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If you look at the eyes, you can see they're clear and bright,

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they're convex.

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A nice shine to them. Nice intense colour.

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Firm flesh, and then the gills...

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As you can see, the gills are bright and pink and clean.

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People tend to say fish don't smell. That's not strictly true. Fish smell...

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of fish.

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But it's whether it's a pleasant, acceptable fishy smell

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or whether it's a unpleasant stale smell.

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Adding all those together - good eyes, good colour, good shine,

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good gills - those are nice fish.

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And Chris is certainly no fish out of water when it comes to this market.

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Whatever the type, he's across it.

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I see we've got some very small plaice.

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Again, the same principles apply.

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First sight, nice and bright and colourful.

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Very firm. We hold them out - it's rigid.

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The older, the softer - it would be hanging down.

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Again, the visible blood - it's intensely red.

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So, again, a nice, fresh fish, in ice.

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And there's one key thing we should all remember when it comes to fish.

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It's critical that the fish are iced when they're caught, on board the vessel,

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when they're transported to the market,

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when they're being processed by the processor, when he's packed them,

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when they're being retailed, and ideally, when they're in the home, if possible.

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Kept in ice massively extends the shelf life.

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At any time if they're left out of ice, they will deteriorate much more quickly.

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Someone who's impressed by this morning's haul is David Atkinson.

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He's bought two tonnes of haddock for his family-run smokehouse.

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We've got 16 traditional smokehouses.

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This fish will go back and they'll start filleting it

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and then there's a set process with smoking fish.

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It smokes through the night

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and then it could go anywhere in the country.

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But before his fish can go anywhere, Chris will be calling to see David

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to make sure this kind of smoking will not damage our health.

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Can these traditional methods keep up with modern-day safety?

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-We've never cleaned the walls.

-No.

-Not in the 37 years I've been here.

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We've just seen there are people safeguarding the fish we eat and buy.

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Checks are made at every point of the journey, from our seas to our shops

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and it's just as well, because every once in a while

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the food fighters find companies that could be putting our health at serious risk.

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2008, and these are the images that greeted environmental health officer Jo Ridell

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when she visited Allan Rich Seafoods in Lincolnshire.

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A warehouse stacked floor to ceiling with containers of decaying fish.

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It was the worst premises I've ever inspected in the 18 years that I've been doing hygiene inspections.

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The fish was covered in maggots

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and some food had been eaten by rats.

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Rats, when they walk about, can urinate constantly.

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Therefore they had access to all areas of the food business,

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so they could urinate across the whole premises.

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What made this case worse was that some of the fish was being sold to the general public.

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Because there was the imminent risk, I recognised I had to close that premises straightaway.

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Joanna and her team gave the owner the chance to clean up

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and destroy the rotten fish, but he did nothing.

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It's our role to ensure that food is safe for the public to eat.

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We'd prefer to work with businesses. We want a prosperous, thriving business community.

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But on occasion, if we feel there's an imminent risk to public health, we have to take action.

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Joanna obtained a court order,

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allowing her to destroy 200 tonnes of contaminated fish.

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Over the course of three days,

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food that could have been sold to supermarkets and restaurants was incinerated

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at an estimated value of £120,000.

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It was one of the UK's largest ever food seizures.

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The owner was not happy with the investigation.

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He believed that the fish was fine,

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that there was nothing wrong with it and it was fine for people to eat.

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In October 2008, the company boss, Roland Saldanha, appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.

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He was found guilty of breaches of food hygiene regulations

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and given a suspended eight week sentence.

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The firm was fined £10,000, plus £30,000 costs.

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For the food fighters, this case showed that putting us at risk will not be tolerated.

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..Using their loaf to protect this staple food.

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We're not prepared to take any chances whatsoever.

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They say an army marches on its stomach,

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so making sure our troops are fed well and safely is a major task.

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Today I'm at Perham Down in Tidworth to meet the food fighters from the front line.

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There are more than 200,000 men and women currently serving in the British armed forces.

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The 2,000 trained chefs among them certainly have their work cut out.

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From home barracks to far flung outposts around the world,

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their job is to keep our troops well-fed and healthy.

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And this is the man who's in command.

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I'm Major Harry Lomas and it's my job to make sure

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that our troops don't go down with food poisoning.

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..green Thai curry...

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Major Harry Lomas is the food fighter protecting our soldiers.

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Today, along with two Army chefs,

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Major Lomas in the middle of a very important mission.

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-Major Lomas.

-How's it going, all right?

-Nice to see you. What's going on?

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This is the 24-hour ration pack, which we give to the soldiers in the front line.

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'These ration packs are about to be sent out to our troops in Afghanistan.'

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Our troops need a whopping 4,000 calories inside them every day

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so these ration packs have been developed with military precision

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and boy, these packs are certainly made to last.

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This is brand new. This is the 12-hour operational patrol pack.

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It's what we give to the infantry, the soldiers on the front line.

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We've got some energy sachet drinks.

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'Now I'm going get to road test a brand-new food with an incredible shelf life.

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One of the good bits in here is a sandwich - two-year sandwich.

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-This one's honey barbecued beef.

-How can a sandwich last for two years? That's incredible.

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Well, the secret is all in the make-up of the sandwich itself and the retort packaging.

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'Preservatives make the sandwich stay fresher for much longer

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'but it's the lightweight retort pouch that is the real food fighter here.

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'Developed by the US Army, it's made up of four separate layers

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'that prevent any unwanted invasion by nasty bacteria.'

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This is something quite unique that they've done for the forces.

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-It looks like a sandwich.

-It does.

-It's everything you imagine it to be.

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-It works.

-It completely works. This is such an advancement.

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You know, I'm stunned by this, really, really am.

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But there's not a massive amount of variety.

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I suppose these are soldier-orientated rather than chef-orientated.

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What really is the big area we're involved in is a ten-man ration pack.

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'It's the food in these packs that the Army chefs use to make a meal.

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'From canned food such as baked beans,

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'dried products such as powdered egg and sauces

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'to minced beef perfectly preserved in the super-hygienic retort pouches.

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'But it's the conditions these military master chefs have to cook in

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'that's a world away from what I'm used to.'

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What's the worst-case scenario the guys would have to utilise this stuff?

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On active service now out in Afghanistan,

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some of our forward locations are really grotty.

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They're knocked together, the walls are sort of lean-tos

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and various things, and the sandstorms, the weather,

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the mosquitoes, it's really grim in some of the forward locations

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and that's the worst areas we're dealing with.

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From a food hygiene point of view, that must pose immense problems.

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the guys working their hardest to try and implement it, keep it up.

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If you're dealing with a big group of people, where we're feeding 100 people,

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and if 100 people go down with diarrhoea and vomiting or food poisoning,

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you've wiped out quite a big location.

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It amazes me that under the circumstances you often have to work

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that that still has absolute, utter predominance.

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Further forward we're going,

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we don't have nice stainless-steel kitchens and all the facilities

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but that doesn't mean to say we don't deal with and use food safety rules and regulations.

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We still do temperature checking, we still do hand washing,

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cleaning, sanitising, making sure the pots and the pans

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and the food is served at the very best.

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Just because we're in the field doesn't mean we let those standards go.

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'Forget your shouty chefs getting stressed about soggy souffles.

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'These guys know what cooking under pressure really means.'

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A little bit of milk powder, flour, pickled onions, bacon.

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-Nice. Cheese?

-Yes, cheese. Salt and pepper.

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'Despite cooking in a warzone, combat chefs are always coming up with new menus.

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'Private Tunnicliffe is going to give me a lesson in military meals.'

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-That it?

-Yeah.

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'We're going to rustle up a quiche Lorraine.'

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-OK, so what are we going to do?

-We're going to make a pastry.

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-The flour and the margarine first.

-'This is a first for me -

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'marging a tin and flour in this special bag.

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'It's all helping to keep germs out and freshness in.'

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The flour's excellent for bread rolls, et cetera.

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In a situation like this,

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as soon as you start off working, then I assume that

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because health and safety is so massively important all the time,

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-that has to kick in almost before you decide what you're going to cook.

-From the get-go, basically.

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Health and safety in the field's a major aspect,

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from the boys washing their hands, that's a big point for us,

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for us cleaning up after ourselves so we don't attract rodents.

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'Like the margarine, the cheese and bacon have been processed, then stored in tins.'

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-The boys like it.

-'Like our beans and soup, this means they don't need a fridge.'

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This dried egg is really intriguing.

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'Powdered egg is brilliant for ration packs.'

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One packet of powdered egg is equivalent to 20 eggs.

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'It's lighter than fresh eggs

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'and has been pasteurised, so it's extremely safe.'

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Add some water to it, first of all.

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Knock it into like a paste.

0:22:080:22:09

'It can also be stored at room temperature for up to five years.'

0:22:110:22:15

-That's a great product, isn't it?

-Very good.

0:22:150:22:18

-We're just going to add this.

-Yeah.

0:22:180:22:21

'With the quiche made, now time to cook it.

0:22:210:22:24

'But of course, you don't have range cookers on the battlefield.

0:22:240:22:27

'So the British Army has come up with a unique invention.'

0:22:270:22:30

This oven, this is incredible. 'And this is it.

0:22:300:22:34

'It's called improvised cooking and was first used in the Falklands.'

0:22:350:22:40

-Talk me through this oven.

-The oven is a bin.

0:22:410:22:45

Dig a pit, fill it full of wood, or burning materials, light it,

0:22:450:22:48

which produces the heat in the oven, and away we go.

0:22:480:22:51

How do you know, with the bin, there isn't anything in there that would contaminate the food?

0:22:510:22:56

You do a visual check. Then you'd burn the bin out for a few hours

0:22:560:23:00

by lighting a fire underneath it, and then the heating inside of it builds up,

0:23:000:23:04

burns away and gets rid of all the bacteria.

0:23:040:23:06

So before you use it, what, a couple of hours?

0:23:060:23:09

-Yes, two to four hours to burn it out.

-Incredible. Let's stick it in.

0:23:090:23:13

-Pop it in.

-Brilliant.

0:23:130:23:16

-Brilliant.

-And we just leave it for half an hour to 45 minutes.

-Perfect.

0:23:180:23:23

Of course, as a soldier in the British Army,

0:23:230:23:26

you'd expect him to be prepared, so here's one he made earlier.

0:23:260:23:30

-I've got to taste it.

-Well done.

-Cut us a slab, fella.

0:23:300:23:34

Wow, that's an army-sized portion!

0:23:350:23:38

The texture's great.

0:23:390:23:41

Powdered egg's good, pastry looks good.

0:23:430:23:45

I am genuinely stunned by that. The texture's superb.

0:23:500:23:55

I'll be honest with you, I imagined it would taste very smoky,

0:23:550:23:59

it would be burnt in places and the texture would be very scrambled in the middle,

0:23:590:24:03

but that is an absolutely brilliant quiche.

0:24:030:24:06

Wonder what's for dessert.

0:24:060:24:07

Later, confusion over cleaning at the Chinatown restaurant.

0:24:100:24:14

It looks like antibacterial spray but it's for getting rid of limescale in your shower.

0:24:140:24:19

From time to time we all have to watch what we eat,

0:24:230:24:26

but if you suffer from coeliac's disease, intolerance to gluten,

0:24:260:24:29

then eating the wrong foods can have dire consequences.

0:24:290:24:33

Thankfully, some companies are going to extreme lengths

0:24:330:24:36

to ensure their safety systems are the best thing since sliced bread.

0:24:360:24:40

This Barnsley bakery bakes over 800,000 cakes, bread and scones every week.

0:24:450:24:51

Bagged and boxed, they're shipped out to shops and cafes all over the country.

0:24:510:24:56

And this is the man who ensures everything baked is safe for us to eat.

0:24:560:25:00

My name's Michael Taylor.

0:25:020:25:04

It's my job to ensure the highest quality food safety standards are maintained.

0:25:040:25:09

We're not prepared to take any chances whatsoever with production.

0:25:120:25:15

It's not in our job description.

0:25:150:25:18

But this factory has an added complication.

0:25:210:25:24

It supplies gluten-free too.

0:25:240:25:27

Gluten is found in staple foods throughout the world.

0:25:300:25:33

Anything made from wheat, rye or barley will contain it.

0:25:330:25:38

For coeliacs, this damages their gut and must be avoided at all costs.

0:25:380:25:43

There is a lot at stake here

0:25:460:25:48

because they make normal and gluten-free in the same factory.

0:25:480:25:53

They must keep those areas separate to avoid flour particles

0:25:530:25:56

contaminating the gluten-free side.

0:25:560:25:59

Colour-coding everything that is used is the key.

0:25:590:26:02

If you're not wearing a red hat, you've no business in the gluten-free area.

0:26:020:26:06

We must not have any gluten contamination in this department whatsoever.

0:26:080:26:12

And that's how seriously we take it.

0:26:120:26:14

In a matter of hours, the 1,500 rolls that they bake here every day will be on our shelves.

0:26:160:26:21

So just how do the team know that they're safe,

0:26:210:26:24

not just for coeliacs, but for the rest of us too?

0:26:240:26:28

Enter another food fighter.

0:26:290:26:31

Dr Sedlak is a food scientist who keeps a beady eye

0:26:310:26:34

on the whole process.

0:26:340:26:37

He marches round the factory floor to ensure everything is in shipshape.

0:26:370:26:43

Nothing escapes the dough doctor.

0:26:430:26:46

The temperature of the product should be below 27 before they start packaging.

0:26:460:26:50

It's incredible to see how many checks our simple loaves need.

0:26:500:26:55

And it is not just the food that comes under his scrutiny.

0:26:570:27:00

It's the staff too.

0:27:000:27:02

He conducts spot checks on workers every week

0:27:030:27:07

to ensure their hands are clean and free from bacteria.

0:27:070:27:11

-May I test your hand, please?

-Yes, you can.

0:27:110:27:14

Tickly!

0:27:140:27:15

Dr Sedlak also checks that the gluten-free bread is what it says it is.

0:27:150:27:20

He uses a pregnancy-style test on a pot full of crumbs.

0:27:210:27:25

If his test detects levels any higher than 20 parts per million

0:27:270:27:31

then the products don't qualify as gluten-free and would need to be binned.

0:27:310:27:35

If we got a positive test result, checking the samples,

0:27:370:27:42

of course we need to stop the whole production, keep it back

0:27:420:27:46

and check why we have got the result and investigate it.

0:27:460:27:49

I can see that it is quite clear, strong line

0:27:510:27:55

on 0 and C, which means the test was valid.

0:27:550:28:00

And there is not any line on the T,

0:28:000:28:04

which says there is not any presence of gluten in the product, so I'm quite happy with it.

0:28:040:28:09

The staff are trained, the systems are in place

0:28:110:28:14

and there are dozens of checks every day to make absolutely certain the product is safe.

0:28:140:28:20

But you can never be too careful

0:28:200:28:21

and there is always room for outside scrutiny.

0:28:210:28:25

My name is Catherine Riley.

0:28:250:28:27

It's my job to audit food safety standards at the bakery.

0:28:270:28:31

Catherine is at the bakery as another pair of eyes

0:28:320:28:36

to make sure staff here are not overlooking anything.

0:28:360:28:39

The consumer is demanding more now and they want to ensure that their food is safe.

0:28:390:28:45

More people think they might be sensitive to allergens,

0:28:450:28:49

so they want to be sure they're eating safe food.

0:28:490:28:52

So the more controls we can have in place, the better, really.

0:28:520:28:57

Catherine wants to know exactly what goes into the loaves...

0:29:020:29:05

Can I just take the names down of a couple of your gluten-free raw materials?

0:29:050:29:10

..see that the staff know their jobs inside out...

0:29:100:29:14

Why is it important to check the temperature?

0:29:140:29:16

Can I ask some questions about what you're doing?

0:29:160:29:19

-What's your maximum temperature?

-Can't go above 27.

0:29:190:29:23

What would you do if you had a problem, if this wasn't working or if one of your gas checks was incorrect?

0:29:230:29:29

Well, I would tell my manager.

0:29:290:29:32

..and be satisfied that everything is done by the book.

0:29:320:29:35

I've been very pleased with everything

0:29:350:29:37

I've seen in the bakery today.

0:29:370:29:39

They've got some great procedures in place and I've seen evidence

0:29:390:29:43

that they carry out all the controls that they should.

0:29:430:29:46

When it comes to making safe bread, it seems this bakery is rising to the challenge.

0:29:470:29:52

And whether you eat regular or gluten-free,

0:29:520:29:55

you now know exactly which way your bread is buttered.

0:29:550:29:59

Fried rice, chow mein, chop suey - the choice of Chinese meals is endless.

0:30:050:30:10

But if you're one of the millions who regularly eat this food,

0:30:100:30:12

how do know it's not going to give you tummy trouble?

0:30:120:30:15

We've been on the road with two health inspectors fighting to protect this fast food favourite.

0:30:150:30:21

The Dragon Bowl is a typical looking suburban takeaway.

0:30:250:30:28

Initially, inspector Richard Kuziara was happy.

0:30:300:30:33

But now he fears an old rodent problem could have returned.

0:30:340:30:38

One, two, three.

0:30:380:30:39

And if the rats are back, the outlook for this restaurant would not be good.

0:30:420:30:47

So...

0:30:500:30:52

we can see the smear marks.

0:30:520:30:55

You can see they have been scrambling so much here.

0:30:550:30:58

they've polished it clean on the top.

0:30:580:31:00

You can see where their little paws have been going.

0:31:000:31:03

This has been a rat motorway.

0:31:030:31:05

Let's have a look. See where they've chewed it all?

0:31:050:31:09

As it is, I am concerned that this needs making good.

0:31:110:31:15

They've obviously got in this way in the past - we need to stop them getting in this way again.

0:31:150:31:21

Richard is not impressed.

0:31:220:31:24

Rats carry diseases such as listeria,

0:31:240:31:26

E. coli and Weil's disease - all can prove fatal.

0:31:260:31:29

And even if there are no fresh droppings,

0:31:290:31:32

this mess really should have been cleaned.

0:31:320:31:36

To make matters worse,

0:31:360:31:38

this corner is highly vulnerable to a rodent return.

0:31:380:31:41

And it's not the only weak point.

0:31:410:31:44

That's open.

0:31:440:31:46

What is that?

0:31:460:31:48

It's got a carrier bag over it at the moment, but that's an open drain.

0:31:480:31:51

-Oh, OK.

-Yeah?

-I don't know where that goes to, though.

0:31:510:31:56

It goes to the drains.

0:31:560:31:59

It goes to the sewers.

0:31:590:32:01

So, if you've got an open drain,

0:32:010:32:03

old Roland will come popping out of it, potentially.

0:32:030:32:07

There's a carrier bag over it

0:32:070:32:09

and the carrier bag has a tiny hole in it

0:32:090:32:11

but not enough for a rat to get through.

0:32:110:32:14

So, nothing has been through here lately.

0:32:140:32:16

I think you're OK but you're really vulnerable.

0:32:160:32:20

It seems Dragon Bowl has never employed any pest-control experts,

0:32:210:32:26

essential in rat-proofing a restaurant

0:32:260:32:30

and vital for one that has had problems in the past.

0:32:300:32:32

If there's one fault with the drains anywhere,

0:32:320:32:36

an open drain somewhere, they could all just be piling in underneath.

0:32:360:32:40

This company is not doing enough to keep the rats out.

0:32:420:32:44

Not only are there rodent doorways, but food for them to feast on.

0:32:440:32:49

I'm concerned here that this could flare up again just overnight.

0:32:500:32:56

There's so much food here that is not protected. There's gaping holes.

0:32:560:33:01

They're not here, that's great, but it's a high risk premises.

0:33:010:33:04

Now Richard has some vital words of advice for new supervisor Wayne.

0:33:080:33:12

In terms of what is going on with the food, I can see it looks pretty fresh,

0:33:120:33:19

but it's the building - the building terrifies me.

0:33:190:33:21

The manager has not, as far as I can see, got a pest control contractor in.

0:33:250:33:31

I've not got much confidence in him because of that reason.

0:33:310:33:34

Richard's inspection is over

0:33:340:33:36

but before he goes, he must leave the restaurant with a food hygiene score of between zero and five.

0:33:360:33:42

A score of zero is given to places that are posing a serious risk to our health.

0:33:420:33:47

-Because of those there, it has come out as no stars.

-Oh, gosh.

0:33:490:33:55

The good news is that you haven't got any rats in here,

0:33:550:33:59

-therefore I'm not going to close you.

-God!

0:33:590:34:02

Yes, I know, it's not a great visit.

0:34:020:34:03

-I'm sorry.

-That's awful. Zero stars!

0:34:030:34:07

Yeah.

0:34:090:34:10

I don't enjoy taking stars off people.

0:34:130:34:15

It is their livelihood - the star rating thing, people take it seriously.

0:34:150:34:19

But at the end of the day, it is there for a purpose.

0:34:190:34:22

The star rating is to allow members of the public to make an informed choice.

0:34:220:34:26

Richard will be back in a few weeks' time

0:34:260:34:30

to see if his words of warning have been taken seriously.

0:34:300:34:33

Fu Zhou is a Chinese that's been working hard to keep these visitors out.

0:34:340:34:38

Sarah Quinn is going to see if they've succeeded.

0:34:410:34:44

It's actually quite clean, really.

0:34:440:34:47

There's a little bit of debris, no signs of any pests in here.

0:34:470:34:51

Structure wise, it could probably do with a little bit of looking at.

0:34:510:34:54

Got a few missing tiles at the back.

0:34:540:34:56

It's got quite a strong damp smell as well.

0:34:560:34:59

But the problem with old pavement vaults is that

0:34:590:35:03

you do get problems and lack of air circulation.

0:35:030:35:05

They are not the ideal but within central London,

0:35:050:35:08

the lack of space, they're left with very little option.

0:35:080:35:11

The upside of a lack of space is there is only a small area to clean.

0:35:120:35:16

The cleaning actually seems good.

0:35:160:35:18

It's a small space and I would hope that it would be clean

0:35:180:35:22

because it is quite important to keep on top of it in such a small area.

0:35:220:35:25

Good.

0:35:270:35:28

Though the cleaning regime is not without little hiccups.

0:35:280:35:33

What do they use this one for?

0:35:330:35:36

THEY SPEAK IN CHINESE

0:35:360:35:40

A lack of English can be a problem to even the most diligent staff.

0:35:400:35:45

-All here, all this.

-No!

0:35:450:35:48

They don't know English, I've got to and buy it for them.

0:35:480:35:52

OK. Let's use something other than shower shine!

0:35:520:35:56

I don't know why they've got this here, they've got the wrong thing.

0:35:560:36:00

Yes, yes. It looks like anti-bacterial spray,

0:36:000:36:03

but it's for getting rid of your lime scale in your shower.

0:36:030:36:06

But this restaurant's issues are minor ones.

0:36:060:36:10

They have taken on board all Sarah's advice

0:36:100:36:13

and brought about real change.

0:36:130:36:15

I'm not seeing any signs of pests, it's so much better than when I came last time.

0:36:150:36:19

It's made a big difference what you're doing,

0:36:190:36:22

blocking the holes, and you're taking the advice.

0:36:220:36:25

It's cleaner, it's good.

0:36:250:36:27

And all in all it's been a successful visit for Sarah.

0:36:280:36:32

There's been such an improvement since last time.

0:36:320:36:35

Practices have improved, the cleaning's a lot better

0:36:350:36:38

and to be in such a central location in Chinatown

0:36:380:36:42

and not have any signs of pests, it's a real credit to them.

0:36:420:36:46

But what about her fellow food fighter, Richard?

0:36:520:36:55

He's back to check if the Dragon Bowl has rat-proofed their kitchens.

0:36:550:37:00

First on his list is that open drain, a doorway for any hungry rodent.

0:37:020:37:08

Basic structural stuff to stop them coming in.

0:37:080:37:11

Next, the hole in the wall.

0:37:110:37:14

This is one of the areas you have sealed up?

0:37:140:37:17

Great.

0:37:170:37:18

One, two, three...

0:37:180:37:20

And what about those floorboards?

0:37:200:37:23

I'm happy with that, it's a good idea.

0:37:230:37:25

They were previously no match for the rats' razor sharp gnashers.

0:37:250:37:28

What he's done is got some big tin can and rolled it flat

0:37:280:37:32

and nailed it over the hole they chewed.

0:37:320:37:34

I've seen chew through doors this kind of thick in an evening.

0:37:340:37:37

If they know there's food, they'll keep chewing,

0:37:370:37:40

but metal, they're not going to get through metal.

0:37:400:37:45

It's a brief inspection

0:37:450:37:47

but immediately clear that there's certainly no rat in this kitchen.

0:37:470:37:52

That's good.

0:37:520:37:53

'He's taken it seriously which is what was really important.'

0:37:540:37:58

On a personal level, it's really disappointing when you turn up

0:37:580:38:02

and people ignore your letters.

0:38:020:38:04

With the legal notice thing here, quite frankly,

0:38:040:38:07

it's a lot of work to prosecute someone.

0:38:070:38:10

I've got better things to do than take people to court. So, it's great.

0:38:100:38:14

We've done lot of work for the past two or three months.

0:38:160:38:19

If they think we're not up to standard, we've got to get up to standard.

0:38:190:38:23

It's obviously for the benefit of the public, the people we serve and our customers.

0:38:230:38:27

So, yet again, the food fighters have helped a business

0:38:270:38:32

overcome some major issues and become a safer place to serve.

0:38:320:38:36

Good. Cheers, Wayne.

0:38:360:38:38

This is a piece of traditional smoked Grimsby haddock.

0:38:440:38:48

Fish like this has been smoked in the same way for over 200 years.

0:38:480:38:52

But just how do get the balance right between traditional cooking methods

0:38:520:38:56

and modern safety standards?

0:38:560:38:58

We've already seen the checks at the local fish market, but the scrutiny doesn't stop there.

0:38:580:39:03

The Old Smokehouse in Grimsby smokes fish in its 16 active chimneys.

0:39:080:39:12

From the moment fish comes out,

0:39:170:39:19

boss David Atkinson knows the clock is ticking.

0:39:190:39:22

Any foodstuff is deteriorating all the time.

0:39:230:39:27

Anything organic is deteriorating all the time.

0:39:270:39:31

So, subsequently, like this fish is going to be frozen.

0:39:310:39:36

Once it's frozen you're looking at 18 months of shelf-life.

0:39:360:39:41

You haven't a care in the world.

0:39:410:39:42

But if something is chilled, and it's got a limited shelf-life,

0:39:420:39:46

then temperature is everything.

0:39:460:39:49

You've got to get the temperature down and you've got to store it

0:39:490:39:52

and hold the temperature at a low temperature.

0:39:520:39:54

Grimsby smoked fish has recently been awarded

0:39:540:39:58

a Protected Geographical Indication by the EU.

0:39:580:40:02

The same status that champagne has.

0:40:020:40:04

But if he wants to keep this,

0:40:050:40:07

David need to stick to time-honoured methods and meet modern and rigorous safety standards.

0:40:070:40:12

Now, fresh from the markets...

0:40:160:40:18

Hello, David, how are you doing?

0:40:180:40:20

Food inspector Chris Melville is going to find out

0:40:200:40:23

whether David is getting the balance just right.

0:40:230:40:26

We know the quality of the fish

0:40:270:40:30

because we saw David on the market buying the fish.

0:40:300:40:32

-Right, Chris. Come on in.

-Thank you, David.

0:40:350:40:37

What Chris is here to check on is how the fish is smoked,

0:40:370:40:41

that means stepping into the huge chimneys.

0:40:410:40:44

The fish is hung above fires fuelled by sawdust for up to 16 hours

0:40:440:40:47

and that's what gives our smoked haddock its distinctive flavour.

0:40:470:40:52

The thing is people will be very, very concerned about

0:40:520:40:55

this tar on the walls.

0:40:550:40:57

That's 100 years of soot. We've never cleaned the walls.

0:40:570:41:03

-No.

-Not in the 37 years I've been here and I assume

0:41:030:41:08

they were never cleaned before.

0:41:080:41:10

The tar does help flavour the fish,

0:41:100:41:12

but Chris does need to be reassured that the fish doesn't touch it.

0:41:120:41:16

The tar's on the walls, cos obviously if there was tar on the fish you wouldn't be selling it.

0:41:190:41:24

No, the product never touches the walls.

0:41:240:41:26

-To climb the chimneys...

-One hand dirty and one hand clean.

-Right.

0:41:260:41:29

The chimney climbers are well trained

0:41:310:41:34

and the fish is being produced safely.

0:41:340:41:36

Time to move next door.

0:41:360:41:39

In this room, the fish is died the traditional colour

0:41:450:41:48

that we see on our fish counters.

0:41:480:41:50

Again, it's quite a nice room.

0:41:500:41:53

It's pretty good in here but there's still some room for improvement.

0:41:530:41:56

The ceiling is too low and you tip the product into the brine and it splashes.

0:41:580:42:03

Very difficult to clean. Every day, sort of thing.

0:42:030:42:07

But you could give it a more regular clean, couldn't you?

0:42:070:42:11

And the dirty door curtains could also do with replacing.

0:42:110:42:16

-Your door curtains look quite tired.

-Yes, they are a bit tired, I agree.

0:42:160:42:20

But apart from that, Chris is happy that nothing fishy is going on.

0:42:220:42:26

So, really, very happy with what I've seen, what I expected.

0:42:290:42:33

As you know, a certain amount of housekeeping, one or two repairs.

0:42:330:42:36

-Good to see you again.

-Thanks, David.

0:42:360:42:38

This company is living proof that old-fashioned methods can keep up with safety standards.

0:42:380:42:44

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0:42:580:43:01

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0:43:010:43:04

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