{"id":9819,"date":"2026-05-28T19:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9819"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:25:13","slug":"health-chiefs-tell-diners-to-check-restaurant-hygiene-ratings-as-salmonella-cases-reach-decade-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=9819","title":{"rendered":"Health chiefs tell diners to check restaurant hygiene ratings as salmonella cases reach decade high"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By MARTI STELLING, HEALTH REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published:<\/span>

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Health chiefs have warned cases of salmonella, a potentially deadly food poisoning bug, have hit their highest level in a decade in England.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 10,400 cases were recorded in 2025, according to new UK Health Security Agency<\/a> (UKHSA) data.<\/p>\n

However, the figures are broadly in line with the previous year, suggesting infections remain stubbornly high rather than sharply rising.<\/p>\n

The bacteria, commonly found in poultry, eggs and unpasteurised dairy, can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and fever – and in rare cases can be life-threatening.<\/p>\n

Thirteen outbreaks were recorded last year, involving 269 people – a small fraction of the more than 10,400 total cases.<\/p>\n

London<\/a>\u00a0recorded the highest number of cases, with 2,329 infections reported.<\/p>\n

Dr James Cooper, Deputy Director of Food Policy at the Food Standards Agency, said: ‘Public safety is our highest priority and we are working closely with the UKHSA to understand the reasons behind these infections and take action to protect public health.<\/p>\n

‘We encourage consumers to check Food Hygiene Ratings at food.gov.uk when they are eating out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Cases of salmonella have hit their highest level in a decade in England, the latest data shows<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘People can reduce their risk of food poisoning at home by following the 4Cs of food hygiene: chilling, cleaning, cooking and avoiding cross-contamination.’<\/p>\n

Officials warned many cases are preventable and often caused by simple hygiene mistakes in the home, such as undercooking meat, poor storage and cross-contamination in kitchens.<\/p>\n

Salmonella is typically spread through contaminated food but can also pass between people or through poor hand hygiene when handling raw ingredients.<\/p>\n

Young children, older adults and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk of serious illness.<\/p>\n

Dr Gauri Godbole, Deputy Director for Gastrointestinal Infections at UKHSA, said: ‘We are seeing consistently high levels of gastrointestinal infections in England.<\/p>\n

‘These infections spread in many ways – through contaminated food or water, contact with an infected person, or contact with infected animals or their environment.<\/p>\n

‘Washing hands thoroughly with soap and water can help prevent infection.’<\/p>\n

She added that anyone suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting should avoid preparing food for others and stay away from work or school until at least 48 hours after symptoms stop.<\/p>\n

Campylobacter – another leading cause of food poisoning – also remained widespread, with nearly 69,400 cases reported in 2025, reinforcing concerns about persistently high levels of foodborne illness.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, separate figures show that listeria infections continue to pose a serious risk, particularly to vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n

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This UKHSA chart shows the number of salmonella cases recorded in England each year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There were 181 cases reported in England and Wales last year, including 28 deaths.<\/p>\n

Among pregnancy-related infections where outcomes were known, nearly a third resulted in miscarriage or stillbirth.<\/p>\n

Listeria is typically caught through contaminated chilled or ready-to-eat foods and, while often mild, can lead to life-threatening complications in older people, pregnant women and those with underlying health conditions.<\/p>\n

Simple steps such as washing hands thoroughly, keeping raw and cooked foods separate and refrigerating leftovers promptly can significantly reduce the risk of infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By MARTI STELLING, HEALTH REPORTER Published: 10:32 EDT, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 10:35 EDT, 28 May 2026 Health chiefs have warned cases of salmonella, a potentially deadly food poisoning bug, have hit their highest level in a decade in England.\u00a0 More than 10,400 cases were recorded in 2025, according to new UK Health Security<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bunyad_sub_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}