The saying you can't beat home-cooked food should be applied to sandwiches as well after the alarming results of a council survey (see page 7).

At least if you make it you know what is in it.

The Lewisham Council investigation into pre-packed sandwiches found 20 per cent contained unacceptable levels of bacteria, which can cause food poisoning.

With one-in-five sandwiches containing these levels of bacteria, can we really trust what we buy any more?

Most of us are in a rush during the day. We wander into a shop, grab something in a packet and assume it is safe to eat if it is within its sell by date. But what do we know?

People tell horror stories from factories they have been employed in, saying you would never eat the produce if you had worked there.

A friend of mine has actually worked in a factory making sandwiches for supermarkets and will still not eat any of them.

In my university days, I worked in various factories in the extensive holidays in a bid to subsidise my studies.

One of them produced pre-packed jacket potatoes and another made fruit salad. I avoid both to this day.

Clearly you would never eat anything if you thought about the way the vast majority of food was prepared but, surely, what you eat should be safe.

July 17, 2002 16:30