Food hygiene in hospitals.

Food hygiene in British hospitals is reviewed in the context of national trends in food poisoning and changes in food legislation. New methods of large scale catering such as the cook-chill system are considered, and the safe operation of such a system in a typical health district is described. The application of current guidelines for the microbiological quality of cook-chill food is evaluated. The need for careful observance of these principles, together with appropriate microbiological surveillance of the process and the product, is demonstrated.