by John Welford

Created on: April 02, 2008   Last Updated: January 02, 2010

Food hygiene is of vital importance, given the possible consequences of ignoring it. In the UK, a food establishment that causes food poisoning through poor hygiene can be given an unlimited fine and the guilty parties can go to prison for up to two years.

Part of the training that is compulsory for everyone who handles food commercially involves knowledge of the clothing that must be worn, and the requirements are for white overalls, fastened at the neck, and a hat or hairnet. No studs, false eyelashes or jewellery are allowed, except for a single-band wedding ring. There are very good reasons for these rules, all to do with preventing the contamination of food. For example, the hair is covered to avoid dandruff, or anything else that has been caught in the hair, from falling into a pan or a dish as the chef bends over it.

TV chefs have audiences that can run into the millions. Cookery programmes are extremely popular, and few days pass on British television without at least one celebrity chef appearing on our screens. We therefore look to these people to set the rest of us a good example in all areas, including food hygiene. Most home cooks wear an apron to protect their own clothing, but the knowledge that this is not enough in a commercial context is valuable, especially to anyone who might wish to follow a career in the restaurant business.

Another factor here is that TV chefs are almost always restaurant chefs in their own right. When not demonstrating their skills on TV, they are turning out wonderful food for hundreds of people in top restaurants and hotel kitchens. If the audience sees a chef behaving in a way that suggests that his standards of hygiene are lacking in any respect, including dress, they are not likely to be tempted to patronise his restaurant in future.

It is certainly the case that TV viewers are aware of these issues. A recent news item on the BBC concerned an incident at one of the country's top restaurants, and the footage was of the kitchen staff having to leave the premises and later being allowed back in. They did so in their full chef's outfits, which prompted complaints from some viewers that they risked taking contamination back with them into the kitchen. Under the circumstances this was probably not something for which the kitchen could be blamed, seeing that this was an emergency situation. However, the staff should certainly have changed into clean outfits before resuming work. The point is that there were people who noticed this breach of the rules.

Some TV chefs do have bad kitchen habits, such as tasting food off a spoon and then placing that spoon back in the pan. We also see "homely" cooks who dispense with the uniform in an effort to show that "even you at home can do just as well as I do". However, I would much prefer that they demonstrated more awareness of food hygiene and erred on the side of caution in all respects, including how they dress.

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