It’s food safety week in the U.K.

So expect some communication nosestretchers.

The Food Standards Agency said more than half of those surveyed in Scotland believed they could tell if food was safe to eat by its smell or appearance.

But the agency says potentially dangerous food bugs such as E. coli and salmonella do not always make food smell "off" and do not affect the way it looks.

Yet the Food Standards Agency advice on cooking meat is until the juices run clear or it’s piping hot.

It’s a terrible risk communication strategy to tell people they are food safety dumb when the government advice – cook until piping hot or the juices run clear – is also dumb.