Food Safety and Hygiene Flashcards

Importance of Food Safety in High-Volume Venues

• Large amusement park with up to 25,000 daily visitors during peak season.
• Numerous food service locations:
  • 15 full-service restaurants.
  • Three dozen quick-service locations.
  • Over 50 mobile food stands and carts.
• High food consumption:
  • Almost 200,000 lbs of hamburger per season.
  • 100 million hot dogs per season.
• Food safety is a critical responsibility due to the high volume and diverse customer base (catering to all ages).

Personal Hygiene: The First Line of Defense

• Personal hygiene is the most basic and critical aspect of food safety.
• Employees can easily contaminate food by transferring harmful microorganisms.
  • Microorganisms can cause foodborne illnesses.

How Employees Contaminate Food

• Having a foodborne illness themselves.
• Being around someone with a foodborne illness.
• Symptoms that indicate potential contamination:
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Jaundice (yellowing of the eyes or skin)
  • Uncovered infected cuts on hands or arms
• Touching anything that can contaminate hands.
• Carrying foodborne pathogens without showing symptoms (e.g., Hepatitis A).
  • With Hepatitis A, a person is most infectious several weeks before symptoms appear.
  • Some pathogens can remain in a person’s system for months after signs of infection have ended.
• Being a carrier of pathogens without becoming ill but still able to infect others.

Actions That Spread Pathogens

• Scratching scalp or running fingers through hair.
• Rubbing ears.
• Touching pimples or infected wounds.
• Wiping or touching nose.
• Coughing or sneezing into hand.
• Wearing a dirty uniform.
• Spitting in the operation.

Establishing and Enforcing a Personal Hygiene Program

• Create specific hygiene policies.
• Enforce policies through training.
• Key areas to cover in employee training:
  • Proper handwashing techniques and frequency.
  • Hand care practices.
  • Proper glove usage.
  • Appropriate work attire.
  • Policies on smoking, eating, drinking, chewing gum, and tobacco.
  • Importance of reporting illnesses and injuries.

Proper Handwashing: The Most Critical Behavior

• Imagine an employee with Hepatitis A returning from the restroom without washing their hands.
• They assemble hamburgers and put finishing touches on a birthday cake, potentially infecting many children.
• The importance of handwashing is emphasized by a hypothetical scenario demonstrating the rapid spread of illness.

The Right Way to Wash Hands

• Wet hands with running water as hot as can be comfortably stood.
• Apply soap.
• Scrub hands and arms for 10 to 15 seconds, cleaning under fingernails and between fingers.
• Rinse thoroughly under running water.
• Dry hands and arms with a single-use paper towel or warm air hand dryer.
• Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the restroom door to avoid recontamination.
• The importance of using a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door is emphasized to prevent recontamination.

When to Wash Hands

• Before starting work for the day.
• After using the restroom.
• After touching hair, face, or body.
• After sneezing, coughing, or using a tissue.
• After smoking, eating, drinking, or chewing gum or tobacco.
• After handling chemicals.
• After taking out the garbage.
• After clearing tables or bussing dirty dishes.
• After touching clothing or aprons.
• After handling money.
• After touching anything that may contaminate hands (e.g., unsanitized equipment or work surfaces).
• Before and after handling raw meat, poultry, and fish.

Hand Antiseptics

• Hand antiseptics (liquids or gels) can lower the number of pathogens on the skin.
• Must comply with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards.
• Should only be used after handwashing, not as a replacement.
• Allow hand antiseptic to dry before touching food or equipment.

Hand Care

• Keep fingernails short and clean.
• Do not wear false fingernails.
• Do not wear nail polish.
• Cover cuts and wounds with clean bandages and gloves or finger cots.

Glove Use

• Gloves create a barrier between hands and food.
• Use disposable gloves designed for food handling.
• Never wash and reuse disposable gloves.
• Provide a variety of sizes.
• Wash hands before putting on gloves and when changing to a new pair.
• Change gloves:
  • When they become soiled or torn.
  • Before beginning a different task.
  • At least every four hours during continual use.
  • After handling raw meat and before handling cooked or ready-to-eat food.
  • Barehand contact policies: If allowed, must have employee health policies, training in handwashing, and hygiene practices.

Personal Cleanliness and Dress Standards

• Shower or bathe before work.
• Keep hair clean.
• Wear a clean hat or hair restraint.
• Wear clean clothing.
• Remove aprons when leaving food preparation areas.
• Remove jewelry from hands and arms (except for a plain band ring).

Policies Regarding Smoking, Eating, Drinking, and Chewing Gum/Tobacco

• Prohibit these activities in food preparation and service areas.
• Saliva can transfer pathogens to hands, food, or food contact surfaces.
• Some jurisdictions allow drinking from covered containers with a straw.

Employee Health Policies

• Encourage employees to report health problems.
• Restrict or exclude employees with certain conditions:
  • Sore throat with fever: restrict from working with food; exclude if serving a high-risk population.
  • Vomiting or diarrhea: exclude until symptom-free for 24 hours or with a written release from a medical practitioner.
  • Jaundice: exclude until a written release from a medical practitioner is provided.
  • Foodborne illness (Salmonella typhi, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Hepatitis A, Norovirus): exclude and notify the local regulatory agency; require clearance from the local regulatory agency and/or medical practitioner before returning to work.

Conclusion

• Good personal hygiene is critical to preventing foodborne illness.
• Employees must understand, embrace, and practice hygiene policies.
• Proper personal hygiene needs to become a routine.
• Constant attention to detail and high standards are essential for food safety.