More than a third of staff in restaurants, cafés, pubs and bars are neglecting to wash their hands after using the lavatory according to the largest-ever nationwide survey into food hygiene by the Food Standards Agency.

The survey of 1,000 workers and managers in small, independent catering businesses, also found that half of all those interviewed did not appear to wash their hands before preparing food, while only a third believed good food hygiene practices were important to their business.

Staff did think good food hygiene practices and clean surroundings were important, but only five per cent of workers and managers made the link between washing hands and personal hygiene.

The results of the survey were published as the FSA launched the second phase of its five-year Food Hygiene Campaign, which focuses on the small to medium sized independent catering businesses.

The FSA is to send food safety information and a free training video to more than 300,000 catering businesses throughout the UK, in a bid to improve food hygiene standards. Details: www.food.gov.uk