Download Personal hygiene and food handling

Personal Hygiene
Cleaning
and
Sanitation
Food Poisoning
Has 3 principal causes
Inadequate heat
Inadequate cold storage
Cross contamination
First two are easily understood by food handlers
because they involve sight, touch, smell and
experience.
Cross contamination is more complex doing its
mischief unseen, unfelt and via many routes.
Process Equipment / machine can appear clean but
harbour many harmful germs
Even very experienced employees can harbour many
harmful bacteria
Cross contamination
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Cross contamination is the process
whereby harmful bacteria (germs) are
transferred from dirty, contaminated
areas such as toilets, waste, outside
cloths, pets, pests, raw materials and
packing materials to clean areas when
food is prepared or processed, stored,
transported and served.
The transfer can be direct or indirect.
Vehicles of cross contamination
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Most common Vehicles of cross
contamination are employees hands,
work surfaces, utensils, slicing /cutting
machines, worker cloths, pests and
sinks.
Hands and worker cloths move harmful
germs around the food preparation /
processing area.
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Methods directed towards reducing food
safety risks in food production,
harvesting, processing and distribution
operations must start with good
sanitation and hygiene practices.
The application of a good sanitation and
hygiene programme should focus on the
employees, environment, facilities, and
transportation of fresh foods.
Personal Hygiene
Human beings are involved at all stages of
food chain i.e. production, harvesting,
packaging, transportation, loading,
unloading, handling, processing etc.
They are source of contamination.
Illnesses associated with foods are
primarily those transmitted by the faecaloral route.
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Any individual in the agricultural/food
processing environment who contacts
food or equipment used in contact with
food in presents a potential
contamination risk
Although raw produce can serve as a
source of a variety of food borne
organisms, such as viruses, bacteria,
protozoa, fungi, and parasitic worms,
yet one should be gravely concerned
about the presence of pathogenic
bacteria, such as E. coli 0157:H7.
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Some microbial pathogens that can be
transmitted by food contaminated by infected
individuals includes, but is not limited to, the
following:
»Salmonella species,
»Shigella species,
»Staphylococcus aureus,
»Streptococcus pyrogenes,
»E. coli,
»Giardia lamblia,
»Hepatitis A virus,
»and many others.
Symptoms associated with infections by
these pathogens may include diarrhoea,
fever, vomiting, jaundice, and sore throat
with fever.
An employee suffering from any of these
symptoms presents an increased risk of
transmitting food borne illness.
Unfortunately most of the food companies
do not practice regular medical check-up
of their employees to prevent such
incidences.
Employees: Microbial Hazard
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Worker's health and hygiene play a
critical role in the controls for minimizing
microbial contamination of food.
Faecal-oral diseases are the primary
microbiological concerns that have been
associated with food.
Workers during growing, harvesting,
sorting, processing, and packing food can
spread these diseases.
Employees
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Infected food Industry
workers/employees have been
implicated as the source of several
food borne outbreaks of gastroenteritis, involving salads, cold food
items, meat products and ice cream.
Proper hand washing minimizes the
spread of pathogenic bacteria and
other microbial hazards, limiting the
potential for contamination of
produce.
Control of Potential Hazards
Personal Health of Employees
 An important way to prevent food
contamination is to maintain a high
standard of personal hygiene and
cleanliness.
 Good hygienic practices by all personnel
(incl. Senior Managers) who are involved
in the harvesting, packing, and
distribution of food are essential in the
control of microbial and other biological
hazards.
Personal hygiene and Health
Personal hygiene
Any individual in the agricultural
environment (farm, packing areas, and
transportation chain) who contacts food
or equipment used in contact with food in
agricultural areas presents a potential
contamination risk.
Even healthy people carry food poisoning
bacteria on their bodies.
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All personnel, including those indirectly
involved in food operations (such as,
pest control operators), must comply
with established hygienic practices.
Infectious diseases, ill health
accompanied by diarrhea, open lesions
(including boils, sores, or infected
wounds), and other ailments are a
source of microbial contamination that
could contaminate food, water supplies,
and other workers.
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By touching parts of your body, such as your
nose, mouth, hair and including your
clothes, you can spread bacteria from your
hands to the food.
Good personal hygiene is not only essential
to prevent the contamination of food; it
also makes good business sense.
Customers like to see food handling staff
who take hygiene seriously and practice
safe food handling.
Put yourself in their place and watch how
your workmates handle food.
Would you want to eat at or buy food from
your business?
Wash your hands thoroughly
 Washing your hands thoroughly is a good
way to reduce the chance of contaminating
food with bacteria.
 Wash your hands with soap and warm water
and don’t forget the backs of your hands,
wrists, between your fingers and under your
fingernails.
 Thoroughly dry your hands immediately after
you wash them.
 Always dry your hands with a clean towel,
disposable paper towel or under an air dryer,
not on a tea towel and never on your clothes.
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, the same as you would wash
your hands.
 Wash and dry your hands before putting on
gloves.
Illness
 You must not work when you are suffering
from illnesses which are likely to be
transmitted through food.
 These include gastroenteritis (often called
‘gastro’), hepatitis A and hepatitis E.
 You must advise your supervisor if you are
feeling unwell.
 You should not return to work if you are
suffering from vomiting or diarrhea.
 Don’t return to work until your symptoms
have stopped for 48 hours.
 If you are unsure, you should contact your
doctor for advice.
Food handlers require skills and
knowledge
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All food handlers need to know how
the work they do can affect the
safety of the food.
Food Safety Practices and General
Requirements, require that people
who handle food must have the
appropriate skills and knowledge for
the work they do.
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It is suggested that operators train employees
to report to the person in charge any
information about their health or activities as
they relate to diseases that are transmissible
through food.
Because of the high infectivity (ability to invade
and multiply) and virulence (ability to produce
severe disease) of Salmonella typhi, Shigella
species, E. coli 0157:H7, or hepatitis A virus,
any worker diagnosed with an active case of
illness caused by any of these pathogens
should be restricted from work assignments
that involves contact with food or produce
handling equipment.
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The supervisor, or the person in charge,
should consider ways to monitor the
health of their employees and take steps
to reduce the chance of food borne
illness.
For example, disposable rubber or similar
gloves, leak-proof band aids, or other
corrective measures for minor cuts
should be provided for use as necessary
to the personnel who may have contact
with produce
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More importantly, the person in charge
should ensure that workers with diarrheal
disease are not working with food or any
equipment used in the harvesting and
processing of food.
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Workers should be taught to report
symptoms caused by illness, infection, or
other source that is associated with acute
gastrointestinal illness such as: diarrhea,
fever, vomiting, jaundice, or sore throat
with fever, a lesion containing pus such
as a boil or infected wound that is open
or draining and that is located on parts of
the body that might have contact with
food or produce harvesting and
processing equipment.
Don’t let your food turn nasty!
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Food poisoning is a serious health
problem.
It can cause severe illness and even
death.
Food poisoning can seriously damage the
reputation of a business, damage the
reputation of the food industry and
damage the jobs of many workers.
As a person who handles food––whether
you are a kitchen hand, a food process
worker, a shop assistant or a waiter––you
have an important responsibility to handle
food safely.
Then you can
 protect other people from getting
sick.
 protect your reputation in the food
industry.
 protect your business.
 protect your job.
Prevent food poisoning by practicing good personal
hygiene:
 Thoroughly wash and dry your hands before
handling food, and wash and dry them again
frequently during work.
 Dry your hands with clean towels, disposable
paper towels 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
prepared or stored.
 Wear clean protective clothing, like an apron.
 Keep your spare clothes and other personal items
away from where food is stored and prepared.
 If you have long hair, tie it back or cover it.
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Keep your nails short so they are easy to
clean, don’t wear nail polish which can
chip into the food.
Avoid wearing jewellery, only wear plain
banded rings and sleeper earrings.
If you have cuts or wounds, make sure
they are completely covered by a
waterproof wound strip or a bandage.
Use brightly coloured wound strips, so
they can be easily seen if they fall off.
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Wear disposable gloves over the top of
the wound strip if you have wounds on
your hands.
Change disposable gloves regularly.
Don’t handle food if you feel unwell,
advise your supervisor.
Follow the business Food Safety
Program.
Follow the advice given by the Food
Safety Supervisor.
Be trained in safe food handling.
Prevention is better
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Role and attitude of senior managers is
very crucial.
Many time senior managers ignore the
need of training and re-training of
employees.
Such short-sighted managers are doing
disservice to their companies because
poor quality and unhygienic food is
eroding their companies' good will in
market place.
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All employees, including supervisors,
full time, part time and seasonal
personnel, should be trained in good
hygienic practices.
Computer can be used to train
people either through animation
films of video films.
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Processors or operators may establish a
training programme that would include a
system to monitor and evaluate
compliance with established sanitary /
hygienic practices.
The operators should also consider
follow-up training sessions to encourage
adherence to good hygienic practices.
The biggest challenge is to change the
mindset of employees and facilitate the
learning of new techniques.
By maintaining proper personal
hygiene you are contributing to
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Protect other people from getting
sick
Protect your reputation in the food
industry
Protect your business
Protect your job