Train buffets | | Tucking in but how good is train food for our health? |
Inside Out investigates why food from a train buffet could be bad for your health. We filmed on four different trains in Yorkshire on Friday September 2, 2005 accompanied by a microbiologist called Jim Francis. One of the trains was the 12.25 Virgin train from York to Doncaster.
On this train, we bought three sandwiches, a BLT, a Roasted Chicken and Sage, and a Tuna and Cucumber. All three sandwiches had sell-by dates of September 2. We put the sandwiches in a cool box for testing at the lab, and the sandwiches were subsequently examined by our microbiologist. He found that two of the sandwiches contained Listeria Monocytogenes in excess of 100 colony forming units per gram.
The Chicken and Sage contained more than 150 units, and the Tuna and Cucumber contained 120. No Listeria was found in the BLT.
According to Government guidelines, more than 100 units is unsatisfactory.
In addition, on the 13.56 GNER train from Doncaster to Leeds on the same day, a hot smoked Salmon salad was bought which contained 20 colony forming units of Listeria Monocytogenes per gram.
According to Government guidelines, 20 units are within satisfactory limits and are not harmful to health. The effects of Listeria vary but, at high levels, it can be seriously bad for your health. In pregnant women, at high levels, it can harm unborn babies.  | | Time for lunch? But how safe are the sandwiches? |
There's no evidence, though, that the Virgin sandwiches would definitely make you ill. Our microbiologist has said that this was a small sample, "We only took a very small sample, and out of that small sample, we had two out of the three fail. "If that was across the board, I would be very concerned about eating sandwiches from Virgin trains."
Virgin Trains say more than 4,000 sandwiches were tested in the last year, with no trace of Listeria. The latest inspections of the cross country fleet by environmental health officers had raised no issues with onboard storage, staff training, or Virgin's processes and policies. After a rigorous check, they say that they've no doubt that customers can continue to eat their food with confidence.
The Government guidelines says levels over 100 units are unacceptable, but aren't an absolute risk to health. If someone falls ill, the flu-like symptoms usually appear about three weeks later. The cause of the illness is rarely traced back. Jim's concerned at the level of Listeria in the two Virgin sandwiches. He's calling for urgent action. A big question is how the Listeria found its way into the sandwiches in the first place. We understand that Virgin and GNER have the same supplier, Rail Gourmet, which distributes the sandwiches, but does not make them. Rail Gourmet say that they made immediate checks and found no evidence of harmful bacteria at any stage. They are confident that the source of the infection was not related to Rail Gourmet, its agent or its customers. They say, like all major food retailers, they strive towards a zero listeria count. GNER declined to comment. Virgin Trains say more than 4,000 sandwiches were tested in the last year, with no trace of Listeria. After a rigorous check, they say they've no doubt customers can continue to eat their food with confidence.
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Inside Out - Yorkshire & Lincolnshire: Monday October 3, 2005
