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with the major e.coli incident ongoing in europe, the annual food safety week is a strong reminder of the importance of following good food hygiene. this year, food safety week is focusing on good hygiene in the home, which will help stop the spread of harmful bacteria. at the same time, the agency is working closely with food businesses all along the food chain to reduce the risk of harmful bacteria reaching our plates. to investigate what people think good hygiene is, in the run-up to food safety week, the agency asked more than 2,000 people across the uk whether they thought a range of statements about food safety were true or false – from the truth about 'use by' dates to the infamous ‘five second rule’ for food dropped on the floor. the research showed that most of us are aware of good hygiene in the kitchen, but can still fall foul of some common misconceptions around food safety. here in wales, just over half (53%) of us believe that we can tell if food is safe to eat just by its appearance or smell. this is wrong. potentially dangerous food bugs like e.coli and salmonella don’t always make food smell 'off' and do not affect the appearance of food. four out of ten people questioned thought that ‘use by’ dates are put on food packaging to encourage shoppers to throw it out so they have to buy more. in reality the 'use by' date is required by law and is an important indicator of how long a food will remain safe to eat. other dates that also appear, such as ‘best before’ and ‘sell by’ dates, relate to the food’s quality rather than its safety. one in ten of the welsh population questioned believe that if you drop food on the floor it is safe to eat as long as you pick it up within five seconds. in london 21% believed that was true, and the lower figure in wales is reassuring as there is no truth in the ‘five second rule’, or any of its variations. if there is one place your food is most likely to pick up bugs, it’s on the floor. other myths highlighted in the research include: 'plastic chopping boards are more hygienic than wooden ones.' not true, but 59% of us think it is. both can harbour germs if they aren’t cleaned properly after use.'if you get food poisoning it was from the last thing you ate.' just 15% of those questioned in wales incorrectly thought this was true, but over twice as many (31%) london residents thought this to be true. in fact, for some bugs it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to develop.'you need to wash chicken and poultry before you cook it.' this was one of the most common misconceptions with two thirds (65%) of the uk thinking this is true; here in wales 59% thought it was true. in fact, washing chicken could splash germs around the kitchen. cooking it thoroughly will be enough to kill any bacteria that may be present. rob wilkins, a food safety expert at the food standards agency in cardiff, said: ‘this research shows that many of us still have some misconceptions about how we should store, prepare and cook our food, which could put us at more risk of food poisoning. ‘there are about a million cases of food poisoning every year in the uk and as we have seen with the incident in germany some cases can be very dangerous. we’re working hard with food producers, processors and retailers to bring that number down and we want consumers to do their bit too. with this being food safety week we hope this research will help people think about what they do and better separate fact from fiction in their kitchens. ‘the results also support the findings of our recent 'food and you' survey which will allow us to compare attitudes and behaviours and how these change over time.' a range of food safety week events are being run across wales, in schools, community groups and by local authorities to highlight the importance of food safety and hygiene in the home. the research questioned a representative sample of 2,245 adults, aged 16 and over, in a random location omnibus survey across the uk with 176 respondents in wales. sixteen statements regarding food safety were put to the respondents, asking whether they believed them to be true or false, or if they didn’t know. the full set of results from the research can be found at the link below.