Episode 9 Food Fighters

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

Now, whether you're eating in or taking away, there's always the chance something could go wrong.

So it's a good job there's a whole army of people working hard to keep us safe.

They're the Food Fighters.

..clear and present danger,

keeping E coli at bay in this stir-fry staple.

It's there all the time. What we try and do is minimise the risk to the process.

The creepy-crawlies looking out for our cucumbers.

These will hunt down and they will kill.

And I take to the streets...

I've got a challenge for you.

..with a unique taste test.

-The first one you tried is actually over two months past its best-before date.

-Oh, no!

First, though, we're off shopping.

For hundreds of years, the independent butcher's, baker's and greengrocer's

were an everyday sight on our High Street.

Now, though, there's been huge competition from the supermarkets,

and this means that those small, independent businesses must be at the top of their game.

But across the country there's a team of environmental health officers working with these shops

to help them provide customers with good, safe food.

We've been on the road with two of them.

In Westcliff-on-Sea, David Harrison's been the local butcher for 50 years.

He's well aware of how vital keeping up to date with food safety standards is to his livelihood.

We're in the food business, we don't want people being ill,

so it's absolutely imperative that we get everything absolutely right.

And now there's about to be a big test for that reputation.

Environmental health inspector Steve Ram is en route for his latest inspection.

And today there are some brand-new strict guidelines which David's going to have to take onboard.

There is a little bit of extra guidance that's come out recently from the Food Standards Agency

about special risks concerning cross-contamination,

and it's particularly important in a butcher's.

In the past, this butcher's merited a five-star rating.

Hello there! I recognise you. How do you do?

But one small slip-up and it could easily slip down the scale.

First, getting back to basics.

David's paperwork must be top-notch.

Keeping careful records is a legal requirement,

and helps speed up investigations, should any problems occur.

So that's our daily cleaning schedule...that we do.

We obviously keep the records for a fair while.

Our temperature controls within the shop...

-so that twice a day, temperature records...

-Mmm.

-I know we don't need to take the ambient temperature,

-but it's just of interest to us.

-I bet it is.

With the raw meat all accounted for, Steve turns his mind to how they deal with the cooked.

How long do you cook for and how do you check that that is a sufficient process?

Right, well, we have... What have we got here?

Correct cooking to an internal temperature of 75 degrees C...

-For 30 seconds.

-That's a minimum.

-This is for turkey.

-With a probe thermometer, yes?

-Yes.

I tell you, if every place I went to had the same reception as this, I wouldn't be in a job for very long.

I think I've seen enough of your documentation to satisfy me.

I'm going to put my white coat on and just have a little look round

-to check that what you say you're doing is what you're doing.

-Yeah.

Donning the clean white coat looks like Steve's visit is about to get a lot more serious.

But there are two reasons why this is good practice.

The idea of putting on a coat like this one is so that I don't contaminate the foods out there,

but I must say I also like the fact that it keeps any grease and such like off of my own clothes.

It's a bit of a double whammy. Don't mind that.

But what will the verdict be when the white coat comes off?

Are any of these five stars about to face the chop?

So, that's the meat, now for the veg.

In Preston, Lancashire, Steve's colleague Simon Neighbour is at a greengrocer's.

With fruit and veg, people can spot what is and isn't rotten,

but there's still plenty for Simon to check.

Just looking at the condition of the fruit, make sure there's nothing mouldy or out of condition.

Then again, making sure it's high up off the floor.

You don't want people walking past with their dogs or kids in prams leaning out and grabbing hold...

and damaging it, chewing it, doing whatever they might do with it.

This being Britain, the outside temperature can fluctuate wildly from day to day.

But at least the shop owner here has provided protection from the elements.

Sheltered from the sun with the shield over the top of it.

No, it looks fine.

And as the range of fruit and veg is now truly global,

Simon must know his okra from his onions.

Obviously, if you're inspecting the fruit and vegetables,

you need to know what they are, what they should look like...

The karela here, as this ripens, this will go the same as the peppers will go,

you see yellow bits, and then red pieces on it as well,

and it's just about knowing what condition it should be in, how it should look.

You've got to know what it is and what it should look like to make sure it's fit for consumption.

The fruit on display looks good.

Simon now needs to check out what they're doing with the waste.

They're sort of getting roughly stacked up.

The yard's getting washed out, so that's actually pretty clean and tidy.

For premises which is just low-risk retail,

which is all the canned stuff, packaged stuff,

really all you're looking at is cleaning, pest control and refuse storage.

Simon's had some complaints that the rubbish here is being left around for too long.

But it looks like the owners are on top of things, and this greengrocer's inspection is over.

Later I visit a very unusual food shop.

This warehouse is full of food that's out of date, but is it safe to eat?

Something that hit the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons are these,

bean sprouts, a favourite ingredient of course for stir fries and salads.

But the seeds that they're grown from can contain food poisoning nasties.

In the German case, this was E coli.

So it's vital in the home that we properly handle them,

but it's also very important that they're safely produced.

So we've been behind the scenes of a farm in the UK

to see what's being done to protect us against an outbreak.

Place UK in Norfolk produces up to 80 tons of bean sprouts every week.

It takes under a week for a bean sprout seed to hit our shelves,

so if anything went wrong it would be a real problem.

No-one wants a repeat of the German case,

so the humble bean sprout is subject to some incredible checks.

And it all starts in the lab.

This lab checks the bean sprouts at every stage of their journey,

and, of course, this starts with the seeds.

E coli, salmonella and listeria naturally occur

in soil and the environment,

so it's there all the time. What we try and do is minimise the risk to the process.

Well, what we do is take a sample of the raw material

and we assess it physically for the quality, make sure that it is the right material,

with no defects, no split beans, and that the beans are actually going to grow.

We also collect a sample and send that away for microanalysis,

to make sure that it is clear from listeria, salmonella and E coli before we start to grow it.

So, once the team know the seeds are safe, they can be sent through to the next stage, for germination.

Now they're constantly washed to keep the germinating seeds germ-free.

But this is not with any old water. This water is mixed with chlorine

to help wash away those food-poisoning nasties.

Another on-site crucial test that we do is check the chlorine level in the final-rinse water.

We're just doing the test here now.

She's mixing the water with the test tablets...

..and then what she will do is read the scale to see what the levels are,

and if it's less than 50 the products will have to be rewashed and we'll have to start again.

If the chlorine level is too low, then any lurking bacteria could have survived the deep clean.

And the results are OK, within specified limits.

And now finally the growing can begin.

These days we like our food not only to taste good but to look good too.

So the bean sprouts are grown in the dark.

In daylight, they'd turn an unappealing green colour.

It takes less than seven days for the sprouts to grow,

and now the real battle against bacteria begins.

If bacteria were found, it would generally be in the seed husk,

so removing this removes the risk.

And this is done in these huge tumbling machines.

But just to be sure...you've got it! It's back to the lab where scientists check the final product

before it hits our shelves.

These beans have passed all of our tests and they're nice, crisp and ready to go out to the final customer

and safe for eating.

So there you have it...the story of the Food Fighters working to make sure our bean sprouts are safe.

It's incredible to think that such a simple sprout has been through five separate safety checks.

But ultimately the final food fighting is down to us, the consumer.

These beans should be stored at chill temperature, consumed within three to four days,

and fully cooked for three to four minutes as part of a stir fry or similar before you eat them.

Now, before scientists realised bean sprouts were to blame in the German case,

the spotlight was on cucumbers.

They were of course innocent but the scare did have a huge impact on the cucumber industry.

Almost half of us became more worried about the safety of our fruit and veg.

The result was a dip in sales costing millions of pounds.

So we decided to take a look at the cucumber industry in the UK and see what's being done to protect us.

This is Anchor Nurseries near Hull.

They grow a whopping four million cucumbers every year.

But it's true that they can be susceptible to E coli if not properly handled.

So every single week they get a visit from a man trying to keep the bad stuff away from our salads.

My name's Derek Hargreaves

and my job is to make sure this cucumber crop is safe for consumers to eat.

Derek is the technical director from the local cucumber growers' association.

Because cucumbers grow incredibly quickly, he visits weekly to keep on top of the crop.

This is one of my normal weekly visits

where I'll be looking at all aspects of production, nutrition, pest and disease control,

and food hygiene.

Today is of particular significance because of the recent outbreak of E coli in northern Germany,

which has affected cucumber production and sales across the whole of Europe.

The farm manager is Trevor Brockhausen.

He and Derek are working together to make sure that our much-loved cucumbers can bounce back.

-Morning, Trevor.

-Morning, Derek.

The crop is closely guarded against all contamination, including that nasty E coli.

One of the biggest risks is disease brought in by visitors,

so, before he's even allowed in this greenhouse, Derek has to scrub up.

This is actually quite significant.

We don't want to be transferring any disease into the crop.

Finally, Derek and Trevor can enter the huge greenhouses.

The first job, a general poke around to check the crop is healthy.

They're looking OK, reasonably vigorous.

Right, then, let's take a look at what's being done here to keep the cucumbers free from bacteria.

E coli can be found in water. Clearly, a top priority must be checking that supply.

Right, Trevor, with all this problem with E coli, we ought to be looking

at microbiological levels in the water. When did you last do it?

It's about due now, Derek.

We just have to take one of three measures for the bacterial levels.

Yeah, it's obviously important because that water there feeds the whole crop.

And it's important to make sure the bacterial levels are as low as possible.

Samples are taken and these are sent away to check nothing is lurking.

But that's not all they do here.

Each cucumber has its personal water supply,

yet another safeguard to stop bacteria spreading between the plants.

The plant is brought in in this small cube.

There's plenty of water there.

That water is supplied through this dripper.

The water runs down this stick, so there's no possible way that it can get on to the foliage

or even on to the fruit.

The cucumbers down here could never get contaminated with water.

It looks like E coli wouldn't have a chance of breaking through these defences,

but what about the cucumber's other arch enemy?

The pests.

Red spider mites and whitefly love nothing more than a mouthful of cucumber for lunch.

Pesticides do kill them, but can be harmful to us.

So this farm uses its very own natural Food Fighter...

We use a biological control to control the pests of the crop.

This particular bag here contains a predator that controls pests of the crop which damages the cucumbers.

And we have various predators for various pests on the crop.

If we don't put these on, the bad guys will just overrun us.

So we have to put the good guys,

what I have in the bottle, I have to put them on to the plant.

These will hunt down and they will kill.

So it's a duel to the death between the good and the bad.

This crop is given the green light. It's clearly well protected against the bugs and the bacteria,

and us consumers can be satisfied that everything is being done to make sure our salads are safe.

Later will everything come up "rose" when the inspector visits this vineyard?

He could remove the wine,

stop me selling any and all of our wine.

Best-before dates are the subject of long-running debates on how closely we should be following them.

Well, according to this company in Sheffield, not at all.

Because almost everything that you see here is well past its best-before date,

and it's all for sale. But how can we be sure that it's safe to consume?

This is the main depot of Approved Foods in Sheffield.

If I want to find out how they can sell food that's past its best-before date,

I better catch up with boss Dan Cluderay.

-Hi, Dan, how are you?

-Hi there, Simon. Pleased to meet you.

This is incredible.

It's an Aladdin's Cave. How do you get the goods?

The goods come from practically every place you can think of,

and it's basically whole cases or whole pallets of stock.

They've either been lost in a warehouse, it's a label change...

there's a variety of different reasons why it's become short-dated.

-Can we have a wander around?

-You're welcome, yeah.

Here they sell everything from pop to popcorn,

crisps to crackers, so just how out of date are their products?

I'm just intrigued to see what you've got.

Anchovy fillets. Best before the end of November 2010.

So they're six months past their best-before date.

And yet there's no reason at all why they shouldn't be eaten.

They've been stored perfectly.

-And yet people will probably turn their nose up at that.

-Some will, but some won't.

What kind of safety mechanisms do you put in place to ensure

that everything that's going out to your customers is safe?

OK, firstly, if any product was going to make you ill if it went past its date,

it's going to have a use-by date on it. We only sell products with best-before dates on them,

so there the key thing is it's about the optimum quality of the product.

This distinction is crucial.

Use-by dates are all about safety.

Do not eat anything after its use-by date.

However you can safely eat food after its best-before date,

though the quality will be reduced.

But Dan believes that quality doesn't necessarily go from good to bad overnight.

We're working about a month, two months past that product's date.

So if you're buying like a can of beans, if it goes a month past its date,

but it's had a lifespan of two years, does it really make a difference?

-Can we have a little taste test?

-Sounds fantastic!

-Best part of the day!

-All right.

Now, I think we definitely waste too much food in this country,

each year throwing away a staggering ten billion pounds' worth.

But still I'm not prepared to eat food past its best-before date if it tastes rubbish.

-Can we try some stuff, then, Dan?

-Yeah, yeah.

So, like, pop. Out of date, April. HISS!

Sounds all right to me, yeah?

-So, you know, chocolate biscuits.

-What's the date on these, then?

-These are March-dated.

-So they're a couple of months over.

-So you're expecting a chocolate biscuit that's covered in white stuff.

-Yes.

You know, it's just a standard chocolate biscuit.

Yeah, looks fine.

Perfect. Absolutely delicious.

People talk about crisps going soggy, so these are April-dated crisps.

CRUNCH! Mmm...still got their crunch. Pardon me!

Nice after my chocolate biscuit as well.

Yeah?

-You would have no idea whatsoever that that is not well within date.

-That's right.

Those are crunchy, full of flavour, the chocolate biscuit was absolutely fine,

we opened the pop and the pop fizzes.

It's all about optimum quality, best-before dates, and there's nothing wrong with the quality here.

I've done the taste tests and I'm quite happy,

but with a packet of crisps past its best-before date and a packet of biscuits past its best-before date

and a choccy bar, all past their best-before date,

can members of the public spot the difference between these and the ones still within date?

I'm taking my samples out on to the streets of Sheffield to find out. First up, the chocolate biscuits.

I've got a challenge for you.

Free chocolate, you can't turn down free chocolate, can you?

Have a taste of each, see if you can see any difference at all.

-Nice? Lovely? Delicious? Any difference?

-None at all.

-No.

-No difference.

-No difference at all?

-I think they taste exactly the same.

-The first one you tried is actually over two months past its best-before date.

-Oh, no!

-No, that doesn't bother me at all.

-It bothers me!

-No, I can go back several years on stuff.

-Yeah.

Not a problem.

Well, no-one could spot any difference at all with the chocolate,

but what about the biscuits?

-Try that one first, then that one.

-Right. I've just had a burrito. Does that matter?

-No...

Nice, yeah?

Try the other one. See if you can tell any difference.

Those taste like they've got real ginger in them. They taste a bit...artificial.

-Not as tasty.

-The one that you don't think is quite as tasty

-is a couple of months past its best-before date...

-Oh, right.

Oh, right.

-So there's a definite difference between the two?

-Yeah, absolutely. You can see in the colour...

and they taste... well, they taste fresh.

Well, there was definitely a difference in the ginger nuts.

Everyone could tell which of the biscuits was past its best-before date.

Now, crunch time... what will they think of the crisps?

I've a little test for you.

Taste one crisp from each of those plates to see if you can tell the difference. It's nothing horrible.

-Are you sure?

-Promise.

-Cross my heart.

Both plates are cheese and onion.

Nice?

-Not very cheesy.

-OK.

-Or oniony.

-Cheese and onion.

-Mm-hm.

-They're both cheese and onion.

-That's all right, then, my favourite.

-Any difference?

-I thought that one...

-That one's stronger.

I thought that one was...

-No.

-No difference at all?

-No.

-They taste absolutely fine?

-There's no difference.

So we've asked the people of Sheffield and they've replied with one voice...

"It depends." So that's quality, but what about safety for all you doubters out there?

I want to know if there are any food-poisoning nasties lurking in our samples.

Our products have been sent to Leeds Metropolitan University biomedical sciences labs

to meet microbiologist Chris Boothby.

-Chris, we sent you a couple of things to test, a chocolate bar, in particular.

-Mm-hm.

On something like a chocolate bar, chocolate biscuit, what kind of things would you test for?

We test for total bacteria that we can find in there,

and then we specifically try to find individual nasties that might be hidden,

salmonellas, bacillas... We test for staphylococcus

and all the things you would sort of find if somebody's been handling the food in a wrong way.

For a control sample, Chris examined in in-date choccy biscuit

and clearly this got a clean bill of health.

But what about our bar that's past its best?

It's faced a general overall test, then four separate ones looking for specific bacteria.

So...our first sample, how's that looking?

It is looking excellent. If we have a look at the colonies here, it's clean.

And there is no more bacteria on this than on the fresh, clean, in-date one.

And of all of them that would be the one you would expect to find...?

That would be the one we would pick things up on, yes. That picks everything up.

-So that means that sample number 2...

-Is clean.

-Sample number 3...

-Is clean.

-Sample number 4...

-Excellent.

-Sample number 5...

-Nothing on it.

-And our final one, salmonella, that we're all terrified of...

Clean, safe...and everything is edible and perfectly good.

So, Dan has got a good business and a safe business.

A very safe microbiological business there, yes.

Have a delicious day.

An inspection with a difference at the world's smallest bakery.

Because most of our customers are our friends, we put a lot into it.

It means a lot to us, what we do.

Now, whether you use it to add flavour to your cooking or simply serve it to enjoy with the meal,

there's no doubt that wine is important to chefs like me.

And although we might normally associate wine with Australia, France or Italy,

there is a growing number of vineyards right here in Britain.

And making sure they're doing it properly...you've guessed it, it's the Food Fighters!

FRENCH ACCORDION MUSIC

At this picturesque vineyard, spring has sprung and the vines are starting to bud.

But this is not Bordeaux.

This is not the Dordogne.

-MUSIC STOPS

-This is Dudley... in the West Midlands.

At Halfpenny Green Vineyard, they produce 15 varieties

and some 50,000 bottles of wine every year.

It all has to be safe, so let's raise a glass to this man.

My name's Clive Vickers and I'm a winemaker.

Clive is the vineyard manager. He has to get things right at every stage of production,

or customers could suffer from more than just a hangover.

So here we are on a spring day, a great variety called Rondo which is fantastic in England for red wine.

And we've actually got bud burst. These'll start growing

literally like triffids, an inch a day, up through these retaining wires,

and after a while the vines... the growth is so intense

that we have to pull leaves off to allow the grapes to literally search for the light

or expose them to the light.

And they will sort of poke out from the canopy as if to say, "Pick me!"

There are no real safety concerns when the grapes are growing. It's in here

where things could really go wrong.

Last year's grapes have been fermenting in these tanks for six months.

Clive is now getting ready to begin the bottling.

But it's vital mould and any bacteria from the grapes doesn't get into our bottles of red,

so special measures are called for.

Key to keeping your wine bug-free is the use of these filters.

It comes into the machine, through the plastic plates, through a little hole,

and the only place it can go then is through one of these sheets,

and these are capable of taking out everything we don't want in the wine.

And if that doesn't catch the nasties, then this monster membrane will.

It really is the belt and braces.

These are membrane cartridges

which take anything out that could just possibly have got through the previous filter.

They go down to .45 micron and take out things that the eye can't see, you'd need a microscope to see.

But they will give us that absolute guarantee of sterility.

But all this is pointless if the filters themselves aren't clean.

Bacteria could cling to these racks which could make us very ill.

Everything must be ultra clean.

There he goes.

Time to get steaming!

So here we've got the steam coming in, boiling-hot pipe into the inlet of the filter.

So the steam is working its way through these sheets,

making sure they're totally sterile. All the different vents are now shut.

This machine is sealed and sterile.

Once Clive is happy, a simple push of a button sets the wheels in motion.

And to keep any dodgy germs out, it all happens inside a sealed unit.

Even people are banned!

Clive is pleased as Punch about the set-up here.

But to make sure everything is as good as he says it is,

every six months this man pays the vineyard a little visit.

I'm Ian Clarke and my job is to ensure that the wine you buy is safe to drink.

Ian is a government wine inspector. He visits vineyards up and down the country

to check the wine they're making. Sounds like a great job to me.

It's important that the consumer knows

that what they're drinking is as described on the bottle, that's the first thing.

But also they don't want to be ill when they drink it,

so they want to know that it's safe for them to drink

and that's part of the remit of the Food Standards Agency to ensure that all food is safe.

So will it be a vintage performance or will it be a case of sour grapes?

He could remove the wine,

if I've overdone any of the... within the parameters of sulphur levels, alcohol levels,

per the label, that sort of thing...

Yeah, he could stop me selling any and all of our wine.

So, you see, there's a lot at stake for Clive.

First up, Ian wants to see those filters we saw are doing what they should be doing.

So what are we doing in the winery today, then, Clive?

Just set up for bottling, everything's sterile, been steamed for the last couple of hours.

-We've got our own Madeleine Angevine coming through, single variety...

-Right.

-This is what we would be doing the sulphur dioxide test on today?

-Yes, it would.

-Excellent.

Checking for the sulphur dioxide is Ian's priority today.

This chemical does keep the bacteria at bay, but in high doses it can be lethal.

Sulphur dioxide is used as a preservative in the wine,

but of course it is a dangerous substance in itself.

And it is an allergen,

and I believe that it is particularly asthmatic sufferers who are prone to attacks

if they have too much sulphur dioxide.

So, with a large glass of wine poured,

Clive takes a precise measure.

Then he adds some special indicator fluid.

This needs to turn purple to prove the levels here are safe.

If they're too high, Ian could pull the whole production.

We want it to change colour completely...so you start... bit of a purple tinge.

not quite there...

and that's completely gone, look.

-Very good.

-OK?

-Yeah.

The levels here are within the legal limits,

but because sulphur dioxide is poisonous to some people

they need to know what they're buying, so Ian reads the label.

There are certain bits of information which have to be on the label by law.

One is provenance and on here it says "English regional wine", so that tells you where it's from.

It also has the alcohol content on there displayed correctly.

There's the nominal volume on there displayed correctly.

And it also has...this is one of the most important pieces...

this bit at the bottom, tells me where the wine was bottled.

And it was bottled here, we've just seen it bottled.

So there's traceability. Very important for the consumer to know where it came from.

Then I turn the bottle around and I'm looking for another vital piece of information,

and it's the sulphur dioxide warning which is displayed as "contains sulphites". Absolutely vital.

And, at the end of the visit, Ian is happy everything here is above board.

-How's that, then, Ian, all right?

-That's fine, Clive, yes.

-I think I've seen everything I want to see, so see you in six months' time.

-OK, nice to see you.

-Bye.

-Bye.

All right.

It's always a relief because you can never be sure he won't find something

that isn't, you know, absolutely spot-on, and he might pick on that, but, no, today was fantastic.

So, after a corking inspection, Clive can celebrate,

and it's business as usual for this West Midland vineyard.

Now we're back with our Food Fighters inspecting our small independent retailers.

We've already seen a greengrocer's and a butcher's receiving an unexpected visit.

The next stop is a baker's, but this is a baker's with a difference.

Strolling through this picturesque village on the outskirts of Oxford,

environmental health officer Richard Cugiara in on the hunt for what's claimed to be

the world's smallest bakery.

Love Loaves is run in a real country garden shed by husband and wife Dragan and Penny.

They're proud of their reputation

and deliver its handmade artisan products to just two carefully selected local shops.

Hello! Good loafing to you!

Good bread for the hungry villagers!

Although it might be a small fish in business terms...

-Have a delicious day!

-OK, and yourself.

..that doesn't mean it can slip through the food safety net.

Richard's hoping this baker is getting food safety just right.

-Hello, Dragan?

-Hello.

-Richard. It's the world's smallest bakery, this, isn't it?

-That's right.

-Excellent.

-Nobody has contested it yet.

And there's something more unusual about this place...

this backyard bakery supplements Dragan's income as a magician!

-We've got some ready. Let me just see.

-Fantastic!

From rabbit out of the hat to loaf out of the oven.

-Wholemeal. They're all organic.

-Excellent.

-And it's still not ready, it needs another five minutes.

-But all organic, no chemicals... you know...

-Beautiful.

-Fresh yeasts.

But Richard needs to make sure that any dirt or crumbs here are quick to vanish.

This is here for the cleaning materials.

Cleaning equipment. Right.

Small bakery, short inspection...

Richard's happy with Dragan's baking den.

Yeah, awesome.

And as every magician needs a glamorous assistant...

-All right, Penny?

-Morning. Come in.

-Cheers.

Next up it's paperwork time with baker's wife and business partner Penny.

And just refresh me on when you are actually baking again?

At the moment we're doing Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

If anything ever goes wrong with bakeries when they're just doing bread,

it's things like when they get filthy and you get pests, and it's cockroaches, backs of ovens,

and things like that, but, you know, that's far from the reality here, so, I mean...

-No room for cockroaches in that bakery!

-No room for cockroaches! Which I'm entirely happy with!

Love Loaves might be small, but it gets a big score from Richard...

five stars out of five.

So, very high standards...

..of hygiene practice. Can't give a better compliment than that as a health inspector, really!

I'm very pleased.

We put a lot into it. It means a lot to us, what we do.

It means a lot to the village,

and because most of our customers are our friends,

we kind of treat the bakery as something...well, it's like having people round for dinner.

-You always do your best.

-People love to eat this bread that we make,

so, you know, we became popular in the village for a start.

So no cockroaches! I think people will be happy.

Back at the butcher's at Westcliff-on-Sea and things are also going well,

but there's one key area Steve Ram needs to check.

3.5 degrees.

Got some olives here that are 4, so this is looking good.

It's time to make sure the butcher is doing everything he can

to make sure no-one is handling cooked and raw at the same time.

Now, the requirement of separation from raw foods is being met

by virtue of this divider which makes very clear that we've now come into a raw food area.

What's your method, if you served a customer with some raw meat

and then they want some cooked meat, what do you do?

-Straight over to the sink...

-Yeah.

-Use that soap, wash the hands, dry the hands...

-Over to there.

-That's great.

-Total separation.

The butcher has two other staff on his books

and he's made sure they have been put through special food safety courses.

Is it very difficult for you and your staff to follow these rules, to prevent cross-contamination?

No, it's just a matter of training, really. You get into a routine.

-You must get into a routine of doing it. Getting the routine is second nature.

-Mm-hm.

But these routines may need to change.

The Food Standards Agency has just announced new guidelines for butchers,

and this could have serious implications for small businesses like David's.

This is saying, can we even make better efforts in certain areas?

Food poisoning is all about a probability, a matter of chance,

and the more things that go wrong, the bigger the chance is.

In the past, people were allowed to use the same surfaces for raw and cooked meat,

as long as they were cleaned properly.

Now the FSA wants to see two completely separate areas

to prevent bacteria from raw meat infecting the cooked.

Previously we've said that sanitising an area and doing things at a different time is good practice.

We're now saying best practice is to actually designate an area that only has the ready-to-eat foods.

It also means David might have to invest in some new equipment

when it comes to slicing and packing his meat.

-So it is an important factor. How much are these machines, roughly?

-£2,500.

-£2,500.

I've seen older machines where I would agree with this guidance.

I'm looking at that one and thinking, "I think you can sanitise that,"

so what I'm doing today is to say that this is new guidance, you know what it says...

-I'm aware of it.

-You're aware of it. Yeah? And we'll keep under review how clean this is.

A third change asks butchers to have a hands-free sink to help prevent cross-contamination.

And David has one. He's well ahead of the game here.

And you never have to worry about this hygiene risk because you've always got that type.

Well, that's really good.

Steve's visit's over and there's some good news for the butcher.

He's retained his meaty score.

And what I've seen concurs with the last inspection you had.

-You'll be getting another top score of five, very good.

-Thank you very much.

And although these visits aren't without a certain amount of stress,

both butcher and Food Fighter agree they're essential

to help keep a vital part of our High Street alive.

In Southend, we've got a reducing number of this type of butcher's shop.

I would imagine, I don't know, that the supermarkets are probably competing,

so it's important that this business is profitable to stay around,

to produce the sort of foods for the local community that it does,

and I think when it has its five score in the window,

when people are reassured that hygiene standards are good,

then they're more likely to come and continue to give trade here, which I think is important.

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