Editorial: Food safety cannot be left to chance

There was an outcry about the outside caterer whose food resulted in dozens of people getting sick. But there was little attention about a van from Albania transporting a shipment of food that could have had even more serious consequences for public health.

The food was stored at “inappropriate temperatures” and had no labelling. The all-important documentation on the origins of the food was not comprehensive, and the Food Safety and Security Authority (FSSA) was not told that the van was arriving.

The list of food that was subsequently intercepted and destroyed included items like olive oil, alcohol and salt, which might not have made people ill but the very thought of meat and yoghurt being transported at “inappropriate temperatures” all the way from Albania, in the current heat, should make us shudder.

Where was it bound? Who were the middlemen involved? And what could have been the consequences?

We can only be grateful that the Malta Tax and Customs Administration officials raised the alarm and that the FSSA did its job, even though the authority has yet to prove itself beyond the grand promises made at its launch.

The food poisoning incident in St Julian’s has not raised hackles any further because there are still so many unknowns before fingers can be pointed.

But have we really forgotten the lessons about food hygiene drilled into us from the time we were children?

The rise of food delivery services has made these questions more pressing than ever. Meals now routinely travel across towns in the back of motorcycles before reaching our tables, often in the peak of summer.

Most operators take food safety seriously, but every extra stage between the kitchen and the customer places greater importance on maintaining the cold chain for chilled foods, keeping hot foods at safe temperatures and ensuring deliveries are made without delay.

Convenience should never come at the expense of food safety, because consumers have no way of knowing how their meal has been handled once it leaves the kitchen.

If there is one lesson to be learned from these two cases it is the stark reminder that bacteria thrive when the temperature rises.

Perishable foods – such as meat, dairy, cooked foods, seafood and even cut fruit – should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours and if the temperature is over 32°C, then that period of time is halved.

It is also why buffet spreads – at family barbecues, parties and weddings – and need to be kept chilled as long as possible. Covering food with cling-film may stop insects from settling on the dishes but it does not make the slightest difference to how long it can stay outdoors safely.

So, transportation is one aspect, storage temperature another. But there is more. Food preparation and handling courses should be more than tick-box exercises designed to get people to pass.

People’s health depends on food standards and this is all the more serious when you are talking about incidents that could affect hundreds of people, such as with outside caterers.

This all comes back to enforcement – not just by the authorities but also by our own behaviour. If a food truck or a restaurant is operating illegally, how can we be sure that its standards are at least acceptable?

Are convenience and cost enough to outweigh the risk of falling seriously ill?

Every time we spend money at these outlets, we are taking risks with our – and our family’s – health. How much better it would be to spend our money at outlets whose standards are kept high by design, by legislation and by regulation.