Food poisoning peril for Parliament

 Add your view

Fingered: unhealthy catering at the Commons could have put even John Prescott off his food

Four day old sandwiches, "mice activity" in a cupboard near one restaurant and a high risk of food poisoning because so many food safety rules had been broken.

This is not the description of a run-down back street cafe but what was found at the very heart of Britain's government - and inside the 13 kitchens that produce more than 8,000 meals a day.

There were numerous problems found by a council food inspector when he examined food hygiene and cleanliness in the Houses of Parliament.

In a catalogue of "appalling" conditions he also found food being cooked at the wrong temperature and unacceptably filthy handles on doors within a Parliamentary annexe which was opened less than six years ago.

The official report - compiled by Westminster Council - tells how Government ministers, MP's and tens of thousands of visitors to Parliament have run the risk of contracting food poisoning due to a series of serious failings.

The inspection of food preparation areas in many of the kitchens in the Commons highlighted major problems and the damning report was penned after an inspector from the council Environmental Health department spent three days examining the 13 restaurants in Parliament.

In that time he came across a series of problems which could have endangered the health of MP's, ministers, researchers, journalists and secretarial and security staff who work in the sprawling building.

There are currently 70 chefs working in Parliament and around 8,000 meals served each day.

The House of Lords - which has a smaller catering operation than the Commons- hosts 800 banqueting events a year serving more than 50,000 guests.

Among the serious problems and failings uncovered by the inspector's visit were:

• Sandwiches being sold four days after they were made - much "too long" according to the inspector.

• "Mice activity" seen in a cleaners' cupboard at the Jubilee Cafe - used by both staff and visitors.

• Packs of sausages placed on top of butter in a coldroom

• Duck and turkey being cooked at 50C when it should to heated at 75 C to eliminate dangerous bugs - the alarmed inspector ordered chefs to stop cooking immediately when this was discovered.

• Mayonnaise stored at 11C - three degrees higher than the maximum temperature allowed.

• High temperatures of 11C in the fridges of the famous Terrace cafe overlooking the River Thames.

• Filthy handles on the doors of staff lavatories at the cafe of the newly built Portcullis House - a new Parliamentary building only opened in 2001.

The Inspector's report was completed in December 2005 but was only revealed yesterday after enquiries were made under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Westminster Council inspector recommended a review of the food safety management system at the Commons.

Last night one independent food expert described the findings as "appalling" and said the state of the kitchens in Parliament made them "very dangerous".

"I wouldn't eat there," said food technologist James Davidson.

"If you take the sausages, for example, a bacteria such as salmonella could be transferred from the butter into something that is not going to be cooked, such as a sandwich."

Mr Davidson added that the treatment of the "duck and turkey is even worse," explaining: "You have to cook it at more than 74C to kill off the bacteria - 50C will kill nothing, you are practically serving it raw and could certainly poison people.

"There is a basic lack of food safety knowledge, particularly in the cooking of meat - that is very, very worrying.

"Any elderly peers who ate in these restaurants would be particularly at risk as older people are far more vulnerable to death from food poisoning."

Sue Harrison, director of catering at the Commons, said: "There are inevitably some issues. We have got a very large catering operation, and I don't think any caterer would expect everything to be perfect all the time."

A Westminster Council spokesman said: "Where premises present a serious and imminent risk to health, our environmental health officers have the power to close them down. Such a course of action was not considered necessary in this case because the breaches were not serious enough.

"The inspector did however, consider that the matters warranted attention by the catering provider and improvements will be checked during the next inspection."

Yesterday it also emerged that another favourite watering hole for MP's and journalists - the Red Lion pub in Parliament Street and near the Commons - faces prosecution after a visit from Westminster council inspectors.

The pub's kitchen was closed down in January 2006 and on Wednesday the pub's owners face four counts of breaches of the Food Hygiene Regulations Act at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court.

 

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter