Blog posts of '2021' 'March'

Personal hygiene is an important element of food safety, and handwashing might just be the most essential step. Handwashing prevents you from getting sick, and also from passing on sickness, such as a foodborne illness.

Even though handwashing is an important step in preventing the spread of foodborne illnesses, a study by the USDA found that 97% of consumers are not properly washing their hands in the kitchen, which in turn lead to bacteria being transferred to other surfaces in the kitchen through cross-contamination.

As a food handler, you need to know when and how to properly wash your hands in order to prevent cross-contamination. Follow these steps to ensure you are correctly washing your hands and removing harmful bacteria that could harm yourself or your customers.

When Should I Wash My Hands?

You should be washing your hands before, after, and during handling food. You should also wash your hands after tasks such as:

• After using the bathroom
• After blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing
• After taking out the garbage
• After handling raw foods
• After a break
• After handling money or receipts
• After touching clothing, hair, or face

Use your best judgement. If you think you should wash your hands after completing a certain task but are unsure, you probably should just wash them.

How Should I Wash My Hands?

The CDC recommends to wash your hands using the following steps:

1. Wet your hands with clean water and apply soap
2. Lather the soap
3. Scrub your hands for 20 seconds and make sure to get the back of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails
4. Rinse off the soap under clean running water
5. Dry your hands with a clean single use towel or hand dryer

What About Hand Sanitizer?

Using soap and water is the best way to get rid of germs on your hands. However, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is acceptable if soap and water are not available, just make sure that the hand sanitizer contains at least 60% alcohol. Just keep in mind that hand sanitizers do not get rid of all germs, and they are not as effective if hands are dirty or greasy.

Learn more about preventing the spread of foodborne illness by completing our Food Handlers training.

Cross-contamination is a major food safety risk. Without safe food handling practices, storage procedures, personal hygiene, and cleaning, contaminants can get into the food you serve, causing foodborne illnesses or allergic reactions.

But what causes food contamination?

Learn more about what hazards can come into contact with food and cause it to become contaminated, and what are the best practices for preventing contamination.

Pathogenic Bacterial Contamination (aka Cross-Contamination)

When most people are talking about cross-contamination, they are talking about spreading pathogenic bacteria onto food that could make someone sick.

Best Practices

Be sure to clean and sanitize all equipment, utensils, and surfaces between tasks and after prepping raw food. Also, raw food separately from ready-to-eat products.

Chemical Contamination

Chemical contamination can occur if raw food are contaminated with chemicals. Contamination can also occur if cleaning chemicals are misused, not rinsed off properly, or used in the wrong concentration.

Examples

• Rust from an opened metal tin in the refrigerator
• Cleaning product coming into contact with food

Best Practice

All chemicals should be stored in a separate cupboard away from the food area. Never transfer chemicals to other non-marked containers. Another best practice it to follow the manufacturers instructions for using each chemical.

Physical Contamination

Physical contamination occurs when a foreign object falls onto or into food. No one wants to find a band-aid in their food, but physical contamination can also contain pathogenic bacteria that could cause a foodborne illness.

Examples

There are many physical hazards that could lead to contamination, but some examples include:

• Hair
• Glass
• Bandages
• String
• Plastic
• Bird droppings
• Dead insects

Best Practice

Always unpack food in a separate area away from food prep areas to reduce the risk of physical contamination from the packaging.

Also, Bug Zappers should ideally be placed near external doors. They should not be located close to open food, as dead insects could drop on the foods and contaminate it.

Allergen Cross-Contact

Allergen cross-contact occurs when an allergen’s proteins come into contact with another food and mix. Unlike pathogenic bacteria, an allergen’s proteins cannot be cooked off, and even the smallest traces of could cause an allergic reaction.

Best Practices

Store common allergens separately from other foods and be sure to clean and sanitize surfaces and equipment. If an allergen accidentally comes in contact when preparing an allergen free meal, do not try picking it out and serve the meal. Remember, once the proteins come into contact with the dish, they cannot be cooked out and can still cause an allergic reaction.

Learn more about preventing contamination by taking our Food Handlers, Allergen Awareness, and Food Proctection Manager training.