The most common and hazardous food safety mistakes made by hospitality staff.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has revealed the most common and hazardous food safety mistakes made by hospitality staff.

At the top of the list, RSPH food safety examiners claim is "failing to regularly and thoroughly wash one's hands", with caterers' greatest malpractice occurring in buffet restaurants.

Bacteria thrive in temperatures between 5 and 63°C - the danger zone - and failing to swiftly cool cooked food below this limit is a high risk factor for food poisoning. Buffet restaurants that leave their dishes out for more than an hour or two are alarmingly commonplace examples of this, and have been described by some examiners as the number one practice among caterers putting people's health at danger.  

Though food poisoning affects the public's health in far greater numbers than allergens, the UK still sees around ten deaths per year due to undeclared allergenic ingredients, and a great deal more near-death incidents. Food safety experts believe that in many food environments there is insufficient understanding of the controls needed to prevent allergen contamination, and highlighted the need for watertight communication channels between front-of-house, waiting, and kitchen staff when dealing with customer allergen information.