Preventing Foodborne Illness in Your Establishment

Most foodborne illness occurs because of time/temperature abuse,cross contamination and/or poor personal hygiene.Every food service worker must become health conscious.Training employees in basic hygiene is vital to the safety of the food served in your establishment.

Employee Health

Everyone who handles food should be healthy.Food service employees should never be on duty when they have symptoms of diseases that can be transmitted when they directly contact food or other persons.The manager should know if an employee: 

• Has an illness diagnosed as S.typi,Shigella spp.,E.coli 0157:H7,or hepatitis
• Has specific symptoms of illnesses and therefore should not work with exposed food, clean equipment,utensils and linens
• Had past infections caused by S.typi,Shigella spp.,E.coli 0157:H7,and Hepatitis
• Has a high risk of becoming ill from previous exposure to contaminated foods or an infected person.

If so, these employees should be excluded from the food service establishment until they are no longer infectious.

Employees who show signs of illness such as fever, sneezing, coughing,vomiting, diarrhea,or oozing burns and cuts,should be reassigned or sent home and not return to work until they are no longer sick and do not risk passing along their disease. People can also be carriers of disease producing microorganisms and not be sick themselves.They may never show the symptoms or they may have recovered, but they can pass on the microorganisms that could make your customers ill.

Food contamination can occur when a food service employee gets cut while working with food.Blood contaminates food and any surface its touches.Food exposed to blood must be thrown out and surfaces must be sanitized before being used again.Employees in food establishments are at high risk for cuts,burns and abrasions.For this reason ,first-aid supplies are needed.

 

However, more serious cuts and burns are likely to be infected and can be a more serious problem when he employee handles food.An infection may be present and fluids can contaminate foods and equipment.Food handlers who suffer a severe burn or cut, or workers with infected wounds,cuts,boils or burns,should not be working with food until their injury has healed.Meanwhile, they they may be able to work at other job stations.

Personal Hygiene 

Practicing good health habits (personal hygiene) is the first step in staying healthy and keeping food safe.All food service workers should take a bath dailywith soap and water,and arrive at work clean.Worker should cover their mouth and noses when coughing or sneezing and then wash their hands before handling food.This helps reduce the spread of disease (such as staphylococcal food poisoning) by droplet contamination.Employers should also eliminate unsanitary habits,such as scratching the head or touching the mouth or nose,which may pass bacteria on to food.

Activities such as eating,drinking and tobacco use in any form should be prohibited around exposed foods,clean equipment,utensils and linens.The food code allows employees to drink from closed beverage container, as long as they prevent contamination of the container,hands,or exposed foods,clean equipment,utensils and linens. Eating ,drinking,and tobacco use are prohibited in food preparation areas to prevent the hand-to-mouth contact which leads to contamination of food.Chewing gum is also a source of droplet contamination.Blowing bubbles or touching the gum with their fingers is prohibited.Employees should eat,drink and smoke only in designated areas.No employee should resume work after eating,drinking or smoking without first thoroughly washing his or her hands.

A proper attire..lead by example

Do not wipe your hands on work aprons.and then touch food.Freshly washed aprons should always be worn.Dirty apron contain dangerous bacteria.Hair should be properly restrained to prevent contamination of food.Remember,staphylococcal food poisoning organisms live in hair.

Hand Washing 

A food service establishment must provide places for workers to wash their hands frequently.A number of hand sinks should be conveniently located near rest rooms,next to food preparation areas,and wherever needed and kept accessible at all times.These sinks, which are to be used only for hand washing,must have warm water,a supply of hand-cleansing soap,and a sanitary means of hand drying,such as disposable towels or an air-drying device.Do not wash your hands in a food preparation sink.Steps for hand washing...

1. Use warm running water
2. Wet hands and arms up to elbows.
3. Apply soap detergent.
4. Rub hands and forearms briskly for at least 20 seconds to build up a good lather.Scrub between fingers and clean nails.If a hand or nail brush is used,make sure the brush is clean and replaced often.
5. Rinse thoroughly under running water.
6. Dry hands and arms using a single service towel or hot-air dryer.

Rings,bracelets and other jewelry trap microorganisms and are very difficult to keep clean.The best way to prevent contamination from jewelry-borne microorganisms is not to wear jewelry when handling food.

Clothing 

Dirty clothing presents two problems: odor and contamination by bacteria.Every effort must be made to reduce the risk of passing contamination from clothing to others by food handlers.Dirt can enter the establishment on employee's shoes or clothing.Ordinary dirt contains many microorganisms from sewage,fertilizer,pesticides or street soil. Teach your employees the importance of clean clothing on the job.Employees should arrive at work in clean clothes.They should wear a clean uniform or protective clothing whenever necessary.Caps,nets or other hair restraints which minimize touching hair should be worn to prevent contamination from loose hair.If employees wear uniforms or protective clothing provided by the establishment,there should be a locker room or other suitable changing area.It must be separate from the food preparation areas.All employee belongings,including medicines,lunches,coats and purses,must be stored in a designated area away from food,kitchenware and stored goods.