Top chefs battle it out for prizes at British Cookery Competition

Sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and judged by some of the country's top food safety experts, the event attracted a record number of contestants who were keen to prove their culinary skills and demonstrate their food safety knowledge. There were four overall award winners for the Food Safety Challenge this year and these were: Best Junior: George Bessell, South Devon College Best Senior: Sheldon Fornesca, Sous Chef at The Dorchester Best Team: Yulmaz and Tayfun Gunduz father and son team from ISS Catering Best Les Parade des Chefs: The Combined Services Culinary Arts Team headed by Team Captain Simon Atkinson Commenting on the competition, Geoff Ward of the CIEH, said: "We were delighted with the number of enthusiastic contestants who participated in the event this year. Chefs travelled from all across the UK and from overseas and demonstrated that food safety is not an optional extra for top chefs but in fact the most essential ingredient they will ever use. "What impressed the judges most was the fact that for so many contestants food safety was an absolutely natural part of their cooking and presentation process. It was not contrived – it was an ingrained part of their activity." The contestants were judged by a panel of five judges who based their decision against number of rigorous and robust food safety benchmarks. Food Safety Challenge judge and CIEH member, Anne Jones, said: "The standard of the contestants was exceptionally high and impressing. The teams were working under a lot of pressure and within a tight timeframe. "What we were looking for was for a team who were able to demonstrate a combination of excellent team working, organisational and presentation skills with 'a clean as you go' approach to their work. The winning La Parade des Chef team the Combined Services Culinary Arts Team never let their guard down and what's more were able to cook an absolutely fabulous gourmet meal that could have been served in any of the country's top restaurants." Winning team captain, Simon Atkinson, said: "I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the Combined Services Culinary Arts team. Excellent food safety and hygiene underpins all our cooking - we maintain 'military style' food hygiene standards in everything we do and the safety of the people eating our food is absolutely paramount."