Returning to the Public Inquiry into the September 2005 outbreak of E.coli 0157 in South Wales, chaired by Professor Hugh Pennington, paragraph 7.216 draws attention to the failure of the Environmental Health Practitioner to discuss matters with employees as she conducted her inspection of the premises.

Initially the EHP did not see a need to depend upon the statements of the owner and staff.

Subsequently she accepted that the Codes of Practice refer to the need to talk to food handlers as part of the inspection process, and that doing so would have been a means of checking that the HACCP plan was infact being followed in practice.

I recall many years ago inspecting an in-flight centre in Manila. Examination of the HACCP manual gave a temperature of 75C as the cooking temperature. Inside the unit a large poster stated 72C and in discussing the process with the chef, he informed me that they cook to 70C.

Three different temperatures rules for process?

From examination solely of the HACCP manual i could have walked away confident that control was in place.

When your customers health and livelihoods are at stake, its just not enough to ask questions, but to ensure the questions are open and do not lead the food handler in the response.

A simple question "Do you cook food to 75C?" is likely to receive a response of "yes" as there is the automatic feeling that you are seeking confirmation rather than asking a question.

A much more effective method of enquiry is to take a "show me" approach. For exam "show me how you check the hot food temperature."

This simple process confirms that the right equipment is available, the operative knows how to utilise it correctly. By asking the right question we have an end result.

All auditors, in-house external and compliance should ensure they employ an appropriate questioning technique of staff.