Mass catering hazards

Mass catering has frequently resulted in food poisoning. In England and Wales, for example, of more than 1,000 outbreaks of food poisoning intensively investigated between 1970 and 1979, at least 60% were caused by holding food for more than 6 hours without adequate temperature control. The number of cases reported increased from 12,000 in 1981 to 41,000 cases in 1988.