Safe Food Handling Practices Explained
Uploaded by
demiSafe Food Handling Practices Explained
Uploaded by
demiChapter 3
Chapter 3: The Safe Food Handler
Main Ideas
1. How Food Handlers Can Contaminate Food
2. Handwashing and Hand Care
3. Single-Use Gloves
4. Personal Hygiene Practices
5. Policies for Reporting Health Issues
Essential Questions
1. How can food handlers avoid behaviors that can contaminate food?
2. How should staff wash and care for their hands?
3. What is the correct way to dress for work and handle work clothes?
4. Where can staff eat, drink, smoke, and chew gum or tobacco to minimize
contamination?
5. What is the best way to prevent staff who may be carrying pathogens from working
with or around food, or from working in the operation?
Chapter 3: Vocabulary
These terms are crucial to understanding this chapter. As you navigate these slides, make note
of the meaning of each word and how it relates to managing a safe kitchen . The Patachou
Foundation recommends making flashcards. But feel free to use the note-taking method or
graphic organizer that works best for your learning style.
carriers
hand antiseptics
impermeable
How Food Handlers Can Contaminate Food
How Food Handlers Can Contaminate Food:
Working while sick (vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice).
Having open wounds or cuts.
Touching contaminated surfaces or body parts (face, hair).
Not washing hands properly or frequently enough (fecal-oral route)
Sneezing, coughing, or touching dirty clothing/equipment
Working while having symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, or jaundice
Some illnesses may infect a person before they start showing symptoms like with Hepatitis A .
Other illnesses can still be spread for even months after symtoms have ended like with Norovirus.
Carriers are people who carry pathogens and infect others without ever getting sick themselves.
How Food Handlers Can Contaminate Food
Actions That Can Contaminate Food: For personal hygiene in the operation the manager
Scratching the scalp must:
Running fingers through the hair
Wiping or touching the nose Create personal hygiene policies
Rubbing an ear Train food handlers on those poilicies and retrain
Touching a pimple or an infected wound or boil regularly
wearing and touching a dirty uniform Model thecorrect behavior at all times
coughing or sneezing into the hand Supervise food safety practices at all times
spitting the operation Revise personal hygiene when laws or policies
touching your phone or a screen based on science change.
Handwashing and Hand Care
Handwashing Guidelines
Hand Antiseptics
When to wash hands:
Never use in place of handwashing
Before starting work
Only use after washing hands and
After using the restroom
allowing them to dry
After touching body, hair, or face
Must comply with FDA standards
After handling raw meat, seafood, or poultry
After sneezing, coughing, or using a tissue
After taking out trash, handling chemicals, money, or cleaning
After eating, drinking, smoking, or chewing gum/tobacco
Steps to wash hands properly:
Wet hands and arms with warm running water.
Apply soap.
Scrub hands and arms for 10–15 seconds.
Rinse thoroughly.
Dry with a single-use paper towel or air dryer.
Handwashing should take at least 20 seconds total.
Single-Use Gloves
Glove Use: Finger Nails
Required when handling ready-to-eat food Keep nails short and clean
Never replaces handwashing False nails can only be worn if
gloves are worn at all times
Change gloves: Nails con only be painted if
When torn or dirty gloves are worn at all times
Before a new task The best policy is no false
After touching raw meat or contaminated surfaces nails and no polish
After interruptions (like phone calls)
NEVER:
blow into gloves
roll gloves to put them on easier
wash or reuse gloves
Personal Hygiene Practices
Any injuries or wounds must be covered with impermeable bandages - meaning no
liquids can pass through it. For fingers particularity this means wearing a band - aid
with a finger cot over it.
Work Attire
Wear clean clothing daily.
Use hair restraints (hats, hairnets).
No jewelry except plain band ring.
Remove apron before:
Leaving prep area.
Using the restroom.
Eating, Drinking, Smoking, Chewing Gum or Tobacco
Not allowed in food-prep, service, or dishwashing areas.
Exception: Drinking from a covered container with a lid and straw.
Policies for Reporting Health Issues
Food handlers must report if they:
Are sick (vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat with fever,
jaundice).
Have infected wounds.
Have been diagnosed with:
Norovirus
Salmonella Typhi
Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS)
Shigella spp.
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC)
Hepatitis A
Manager’s responsibility:
Restrict or exclude workers as required
Notify health authorities of certain illnesses
Policies for Reporting Health Issues
Restrict Tasks at Work Exclude from Work
infected wounds/boils - must not be sore throat - if working with high-risk
around exposed food or food- population - may return with Dr. note
contact surfaces diarrhea - may return when symptom
sore throat - must not be around free for 24 hrs or with Dr. note
exposed food or food-contact vomiting - may return when symptom
surfaces free for 24 hrs or with Dr. note
sneezing, coughing, runny nose - jaundice - must be reported to
must not be around exposed food or regulatory authority and may only
food-contact surfaces return with Dr. note and regulatory
authority approval
Any one diagnosed with one of the six most common foodborne illnesses must be
excluded from the operation and it must be reported to the regulatory authority. They
may return to worked when it is cleared by a medical practitioner and the regulatory
authority.
Reviewing the Essentials
As you study, go back an make sure you understand the answers to each of these
questions.
How can food handlers avoid behaviors that can contaminate food?
How should staff wash and care for their hands?
What is the correct way to dress for work and handle work clothes?
Where can staff eat, drink, smoke, and chew gum or tobacco to minimize
contamination?
What is the best way to prevent staff who may be carrying pathogens from working
with or around food, or from working in the operation?
Scenario
Robert is a food handler at a deli. It is 7:47 a.m., and he has just woken up. He is scheduled
to be at work and ready to go by 8:00 a.m. When he gets out of bed, his stomach feels
queasy. He blames it on the beer he had the night before. Fortunately, Robert lives only 5
minutes from work. Despite this, he does not have enough time to take a shower. He
grabs the same uniform he wore the day before when prepping chicken. He also put on
his watch and several rings.
When Robert gets to work, he realizes that he left his hat at home. Robert is greeted by an
angry manager. The manager puts Robert to work right away, loading the rotisserie with
raw chicken. Robert then moves on to serving a customer who orders a freshly made
salad. Robert is known for his salads and makes the salad to the customer’s approval.
What did Robert do incorrectly?
Answers
Robert did not take a bath or shower before work.
He wore a dirty uniform to work.
He should have removed his watch and rings (with the exception of a plain band)
before prepping and serving food.
He did not wear a hair restraint.
He did not report his illness to the manager before coming to work.
He did not wash his hands before handling the raw chicken.
He did not wash his hands after handling the raw chicken.