Anyone who has suffered from food poisoning knows all too well how awful the experience can be.
Symptoms vary from a mild stomach ache to diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and fever – and those affected can sometimes require hospital care.
Now Aberdeen City Council is taking part in a national awareness campaign led by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in an effort to reduce the number of cases.
The local authority’s environmental health team will be on hand throughout Food Safety Week, which runs until Sunday.
They will be in the Trinity Shopping Centre today, the Bon Accord Shopping Centre tomorrow and Thursday, and Union Square on Friday.
The FSA initiative is aiming to stem the spread of campylobacter – an invisible bacteria which leads to 250,000 cases of food poisoning in the UK annually.
About four in five cases come from contaminated poultry.
Aberdeen City Council principal environmental health officer Andrea Carson said: “Food poisoning can be prevented if a few simple rules are followed when preparing food. This includes washing hands, keeping raw and ready to eat foods separate, cook food thoroughly and cleaning properly.”
