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Health, safety and quality control are essential elements of any food manufacturing business, which is why so much time and money is dedicated to training people in these specialist and very important food jobs.

However, public health expert Julie Barratt has said that businesses in Wales are increasingly cutting down on health and safety training in an attempt to save money. Barratt, the director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Wales (CIEH), has warned that this worrying situation could lead to what she calls a "food poisoning time bomb".

Barratt conducted a survey of 5,000 CIEH trainers, and found that around half believed that the current economic climate was negatively affecting food safety training in businesses. 'Cost-cutting' was identified as the main reason for lack of investment in training by 70 per cent of experts surveyed.

Barratt issued a public health warning on the back of the survey results, saying:

"The economic downturn has meant many businesses have had to rein in spending, which is understandable, but quality training needs to be seen as an investment which protects your staff, your business and your company's reputation. A food poisoning outbreak can be the death knell for a food business and can have a myriad of consequences from reputational damage to business failure."