Personal Hygiene
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Good personal hygiene can prevent food poisoning.
Bacteria that cause food poisoning can be on everyone – even healthy people. You can spread bacteria from yourself to the food if you touch your nose, mouth, hair or your clothes, and then food.
Good personal hygiene also makes good business sense. Customers like to see food-handling staff who take hygiene seriously and practice safe food handling.
Watch how your co-workers handle food and consider it from a customer’s point of view. Would you want to eat at, or buy food from, the place you work?
Food handlers – personal hygiene tips
To prevent food poisoning using good personal hygiene, follow these tips:
- wash and dry your hands thoroughly before handling food, and wash and dry them again frequently during work
- dry your hands with a clean towel, disposable paper towel or under an air dryer
- never smoke, chew gum, spit, change a baby’s nappy or eat in a food handling or food storage area
- never cough or sneeze over food, or where food is being prepared or stored
- wear clean protective clothing, such as an apron
- keep your spare clothes and other personal items (including mobile phones) away from where food is stored and prepared
- tie back or cover long hair
- keep fingernails short so they are easy to clean, and don’t wear nail polish because it can chip into the food
- avoid wearing jewelry, or only wear plain-banded rings and sleeper earrings
- completely cover all cuts and wounds with a wound strip or bandage (brightly colored waterproof bandages are recommended)
- wear disposable gloves over the top of the wound strip if you have wounds on your hands
- change disposable gloves regularly
- advise your supervisor if you feel unwell, and don’t handle food.
Hand washing
Even if hands look clean, they can still harbour harmful germs and bacteria so correct hand washing is absolutely paramount when working with food.
Improper handwashing is one of the leading causes of food contamination and is responsible for the spread of deadly bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Novovirus, as well as dangerous respiratory infections such as Adenovirus and Hand-Foot-Mouth disease. In fact, The CDC estimates that throughout the world over 2.2 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diarrhoea and respiratory infections caused by improper food preparation.
Hands should be thoroughly washed after starting work, handling money, handling raw meat, sneezing or touching the face, and of course, visiting the toilet. One gram of feces can contain as many as one trillion bacterial microbes! That is why it is so important to wash your hands thoroughly after visiting the toilet and handling animal product such as fresh meats and free range eggs.
Wash your hands after:
- going to the toilet
- handling raw food
- blowing your nose
- handling garbage
- touching your ears, nose, mouth or other parts of the body
- smoking
- every break
- handling animals.
If you are wearing disposable gloves, change them regularly – at the same times you would normally wash your hands if you weren’t wearing gloves. Wash and dry your hands before putting on gloves.
This sounds easy enough, but many food handlers do not understand the correct process for hand washing.
Correct handwashing is broken down into 6 steps:
- Wet hands - Use warm to hot water to wet your hands and remove any visible dirt or grime.
- Apply soap - Apply a liquid soap to your hands. Try to avoid or limit the use of bar soaps as they can harbour bacteria. If you do need to use bar soap, then ensure that it is stored in a container that allows for self drainage and is cleaned regularly.
- Lather and scrub - Rub your hands together well with the soap for a minimum of 20 seconds. Make sure to thoroughly clean palms, the back of the hands, between each finger and under the fingernails.
- Rinse - Rinse off the soap using warm running water for at least 20 seconds and be sure to point fingers downwards while rinsing.
- Turn off the tap - Taps can be a breeding ground for bacteria when people turn them on using dirty hands, so try to use a paper towel to turn the tap off.
- Dry - Wet hands can carry up to one thousand times more germs than dry hands, so it’s important to dry hands thoroughly using a paper towel or hand dryer. Do not use a tea towel or your apron as this will contaminate your hands again.
Food businesses are required to provide hand washing facilities to all food handlers including clean running water, soap and drying facilities. They must also ensure that these stations are used exclusively for washing the hands, arms and face and not the preparation of food.
Health of food handlers
You should never prepare food for others if you even suspect that you may be ill.Food handlers are prohibited from working with food when they are ill as there is a high chance of contamination.
Some viruses can be transmitted through food just as bacteria can, and may be able to survive on food for long periods of time. That is why it is so important that any food handlers who may be sick stop working with food immediately.
Illnesses that would prevent you from working with food include, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A, tuberculosis and gastroenteritis. You should not work with food when experiencing symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps, sore throat or a fever.
If you suspect that you may be ill, then you must inform your supervisor right away and stop working with food immediately. If you do have to miss work due to illness, then you may need a medical certificate from a doctor to confirm when you are able to return safely.
It’s not just illnesses that may stop you working with food. Any food handlers suffering from cuts, sores or boils must ensure their wounds are covered using clean, good quality dressings and bandages, and ensure that they are changed regularly.
Signs of wound infection or discharge from the eyes, ears, or nose must be reported immediately, and the food handler must stay away from any food handling areas in the workplace.
Clothing
Dirty clothing is one of the leading causes of cross contamination in the kitchen as is can carry bacteria from one place to another.
It is important that all clothing be laundered and stored correctly to prevent the spread of bacteria. Clothing must also be microbial clean, meaning that the microbes on the garment have been reduced to a safe level. Always use good quality cleaning products and be sure to store clean clothes in a clean, dry place, away from any possible sources of contamination.
Many protective items such as gloves and hairnets are designed to be used once only, and must be disposed of after use and never re-used.
Long hair should always be tied back and preferably contained using a hair net. Jewellery should also be kept to a minimum.
Behavior in the workplace
Our behavior in the kitchen may also be a source of food contamination, and some things you may do without thinking can be seriously harmful.
When moving around the workplace try the following tips:
- Avoid all unnecessary contact with ready to eat foods such as salads, cooked meat or fruit. This has been proven to significantly reduce the risk of food contamination.
- If you cough or sneeze into your hands, always ensure you wash your hands thoroughly and replace any gloves.
- Never touch your face, hair, jewelry or clothing while preparing food.
- Do not taste food with your fingers or with utensils that are then returned into the food.
- Do not smoke. If you do need to smoke, always ensure it is done well away from all food preparation areas, and ensure your hands and face are washed thoroughly afterwards.
- Wipe perspiration from your face away using a cloth or paper towel, then wash your hands thoroughly.
- Avoid chewing gum while preparing food.
- Replace any protective clothing such as aprons and gloves when moving from one area of the kitchen to another.
- Always know your company policies regarding moving between workstations.
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