Food safety is the responsibility of every employee and starts with some very simple personal hygiene “dos” and “don’ts”.
- Employees should keep their finger nails trimmed neat and left unpolished – nail polish can hide dirt underneath the finger nails or flake off in to food. Long or jagged nails are difficult to clean and can trap harmful illness-causing microorganisms
- Cuts or burns should be covered by a secure bandage – Cuts on the hand are a potential source of harmful contaminants and need to be covered by a bandage and then covered with a single use glove to prevent the bandage from falling off into food
- Single use gloves are for single use – Single use gloves are designed to be used for one food prep task and then discarded. Hands should be thoroughly washed before putting on a new pair gloves
- Don’t eat or smoke while handling food – Not only is this unsightly to patrons that may glance into the food prep area, it is also unsanitary. Chewing tobacco and gum can contaminate food as well. So food handlers need to limit these activities to their break.
- Aprons should be removed when cleaning the working area or taking out the trash
- Food handlers should not be allowed to work when they are sick
Controlling bad food handler habits and keeping your restaurant equipment clean, will go a long way toward having a healthy operation. By having your staff follow these simple dos and don’ts, they can make proper choices instead of falling into bad habits that will have the potential to make your patrons ill and generate bad publicity.