ABSTRACT
Poor hygiene in the production and preparation of food can lead to food poisoning and can have serious and immediate consequences for the public. There is a great deal of concern among consumers about food hygiene and an increasing awareness on the part of politicians and their advisers that strict and effective food hygiene legislation is essential in order to increase and maintain consumer confidence in the food they buy and eat. Because a breach of food hygiene rules and a failure to maintain adequate standards of hygiene can have immediate effects on the consumer, by making them ill very soon after consuming the food, hygiene is often regarded as a more obvious concern than, for example, the potential dangers of food additives, chemical contaminants, hormone and drug residues and genetic modification.
