Raspberry jelly, home-made mince pies and sausages on sticks, the traditional goodies at children's Christmas parties, could become a thing of the past.

In Wales, parents have been told by education officials to give such lovingly prepared treats a miss and offer their children wrapped supermarket food instead.

The directive also banned home-made party food such as sausage rolls or jellies from school parties, claiming they posed a threat of E.coli and salmonella poisoning. The ruling has caused widespread anger, with parents arguing that schools should be promoting home-made food, rather than encouraging children to eat supermarket produce, and Oxfordshire nutritional therapist Barbara Nash, from Holton, agrees.

"Making your own has got to be better than buying shop brands because you know exactly what's going in to them and you're in control," she says.

"But do make sure you cook meat properly. I always give mine extra time just to make sure.

"If you follow the instructions food poisoning shouldn't be a problem." She also suggested that coming up with an alternative to problem foods would be a way around the problem.

"Instead of bringing out the traditional party fare, why not be innovative and introduce some new fun food.

"Jellies are full of sugar, additives and preservatives so are really bad for children. But you could replace the jellies with homemade cakes or biscuits made with organic ingredients, in the shape of animals or clowns. Sausage rolls are high in fat and preservatives, so replace them with little sandwiches instead."

But the fears are understandable. The outbreak of E.coli in Lanarkshire in 1996 claimed 21 lives and health officials believe many parents are not aware of the risks party food can pose.

Every year up to a million people suffer from food poisoning in England and Wales, with children most at risk of becoming seriously ill from eating contaminated food.

Professor Hugh Pennington, who led the investigation into the Scottish E.coli crisis, agrees with the Welsh ban and says any home-prepared food should be treated with extreme caution.

He says: "Amateur catering is responsible for the majority of food poisoning cases in this country. "The types of food favoured by the home caterer, the way the food is then prepared and the final storage of the items all combine to pose quite a serious health risk.

"Savoury finger food, in particular, can be contaminated with E.coli and salmonella bacteria which can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases even prove fatal.

"Children are most at risk from developing serious food poisoning as a result of eating contaminated food and parents must be made aware of the potential hazards they face at school parties."

E.coli is a bacteria found in cattle and can lurk in party foods such as cooked meats, sausage rolls, sausage or cheese cubes on sticks, beef sandwiches, ice-cream and home-made yoghurt. The other main food poisoning bacteria is salmonella, which has a number of strains.

It can be found in poultry and dairy produce such as chicken vol-au-vents, prawn and egg rolls, mayonnaise, chicken legs, scotch eggs and gelatin found in party jellies and pork pies.

Prof Pennington says: "Although there is a risk, there is no reason why such traditional party favourites shouldn't be enjoyed, providing due care and attention has been given to its preparation."

Ideally the food should be prepared by somebody holding a basic food hygiene certificate. But even if the food is being prepared by parents at home there are a number of measures which should be taken to ensure contamination does not happen.

Meat products such as chicken legs or cooked meats should be prepared separately and away from salads, dairy produce and sweets.

Surfaces should be kept clean and parents should ensure their hands are washed before and during the food preparation. If the food does not need cooking it should be stored separately in a fridge and then transferred into a cool bag to be taken to the school.

Food should be stored covered with cling film or silver foil and meat products should be stored well away from other foodstuffs to avoid contamination.

Nibbles which are to be served hot, such as vol-au-vents or chicken drumsticks, should be eaten as soon as they are cooked.

Story date: Tuesday 14 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.