Personal Hygiene

1. Personal Hygiene

2. Hygiene vs Personal Hygiene • Broadly applies to food sanitation • Personal hygiene • Cleanliness • Food worker habits

3. Food-Borne Pathogens: Role of Humans • Uncertainty • Lack of epidemiological data • Asymptomatic carriers can act as vectors • 38% of food service workers in the US do not have a high school diploma • Similar percentage of people may be working in the food industry

6. Health • Medical Examination • Preemployment examination • Chest X-ray • Do not work with food products when ill • Do not handle ingredients when hands are cut or infected • Avoid coughing or sneezing over exposed foods

7. Emphasize • Healthy practices • Exercise • Eating habits • Voluntary compliance and openness about medical problems

8. Drawbacks • Expensive • Difficult to administer and enforce • No relationship established between personal hygiene and prevention of food-borne diseases

9. Habits • Bathe daily • Be clean shaven • Cut hair regularly • Keep finger nails trim and clean • Wash hands • Prior to work • After visiting locker, restroom, lunchroom • Frequently when food products are handled

10. Habits (continued) • Salmonellae transferred by finger tips can survive for several hours ands can contaminate food • 15 minutes after washing, bacterial numbers on skin are similar to before washing • Bacteria from cracks and crevices in skin come to surface after hand washing • Fecal material under fingernails (detergents + antimicrobials) • More bacteria on hands of food workers when compared with nonfood workers • Gloves – what is the reason for wearing them? • Wash hands for at least 30 seconds; scrubbing 1 minute • Sanitizers

12. Habits (continued) • Avoid liquid soaps (source of Pseudomonas) • Do not use skin lubricants and creams • Drying skin after washing (paper towels and proper disposal) • Communal towel-avoid it! • Location of hand washing stations is critical • Frequency: Wash hands at least once

13. Habits (continued) • Washing stations 8 ft or more from food contact surfaces • Wash once every 2 hours

15. Habits (continued) • Keep hands away from mouth, nose, ears, and scalp • Avoid excessive and unnecessary handling of food ingredients • Use clean utensils instead of hands whenever possible • Do not eat, chew, smoke, spit in food processing areas

16. Dress • Change proper, clean clothes before starting to work • Do not carry anything in shirt pockets • Do not wear jewelry • Do not wear finger nail polish • Do not wear street clothes

17. Rooms used by Employees • Store lunches in lunch room • Cleanup spilled food residues • Keep clothes in locker room • Keep lockers clean • Keep rest room clean and neat • Wash hands after visiting luch, locker or rest rooms

18. Management’s Responsibility • Provide necessary facilities • Assure that employees are medically sound • Have a medical surveillance program • Provide education about personal hygiene • Provide incentives for maintaining proper health, hygiene, habits, and dress

19. Questions • Why is personal hygiene important if you work in the food industry? • How often should one wash hands, and why? • List 2 examples of habits, dress, rooms used by employees that may help in preventing food-borne illnesses