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Almost a third
of men and many women do not wash their hands after going to the toilet vastly
increasing the risk of food poisoning, says a survey.
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Many are transferring
germs straight from toilet to plate because they also do not wash their hands
before preparing food.
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To launch National
Food Safety Week on Monday, the Food and Drink Federation stressed that even
healthy guts can contain potentially harmful bacteria.
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They illustrated the
danger by releasing pictures which revealed just how many bugs are carried by
unwashed hands.
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People were asked to
make a impression on special agar jelly with an unwashed hand.
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When ultraviolet light
was used to compare the amount of bacteria growing within the handprint with
those from a washed hand, the difference was visibly dramatic.
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Estimates suggest as
many as 4.5 million people suffered from food poisoning in the UK last year -
although fewer than 100,000 cases were reported to the authorities.
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The main culprits were
salmonella, campylobacter and E.coli.
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A quarter of men
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The survey of more
than 2,000 people found that a quarter of men, and 17% of women did not always
wash their hands before preparing food.
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It found 31% of men
and 17% of women confessed to not washing hands after going to the toilet - many
of these believed the toilet was clean, or that they were only coming into
contact with their family's germs.
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One in five said they
did not bother because their hands looked clean.
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Professor John Krebs,
chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said: "Handling food with dirty hands is
asking for trouble. Food poisoning is still a big problem in the UK and the
simple step of washing our hands will help reduce risks and clean up our act."
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Other findings of the
survey were disturbing - for example, only 37% of people knew the correct
working temperature of a fridge.
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Forty-two per cent did
not always wash their hands after playing with pets, and more than half did not
wash before eating food.
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Professor Hugh
Pennington, a microbiology expert from the University of Aberdeen, said: "There
will be those who accuse us of being patronising by focusing on something as
basic as hand washing.
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"I say to them: 'The
next time you meet someone and shake their hand - there's a one in five chance
that they are one of those who do not always wash their hands after going to the
toilet'."