Employee Health and Personal Hygiene

• Studies show that many cases of foodborne illnesses can be linked directly to the lack of attention to personal hygiene, cleanliness, and food handling procedures.

• The Center for Communicable Disease issued a list of infectious and communicable diseases that are often transmitted through food prepared by infected food handlers.

• (refer to: http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=list+of+infectious+and+communicable+diseases+that+are+transmitted+through+food&spell=1&ie=utf8).

• Providing safe food begins during the hiring process.

• This strategy is accomplished through the health screening and careful training of food service employees after they have been hired.

• The hiring process should be followed by an orientation and training on the standards of proper hygiene established for food service operations.

• Personal hygiene is simply the application of principles for maintaining health and personal cleanliness.

• Policies should be designed, implemented, and monitored to cover employees’ illnesses, proper attire, and personal hygiene habits.

• The specific methods aimed to fulfill the intent of these policies are frequently referred to as infection control procedures.

Healthy Food Handler• A clean, hygienic environment starts with a

healthy food handler. For a food handler to be considered healthy, he/she must be free from diseases that may contaminate food, such as intestinal disorders (typhoid fever and hepatitis), respiratory tract diseases (tuberculosis, sore throat, and colds), and skin diseases or disorders (boils, lesions, and skin infections).

Proper Attire:

• Hair Restraint

• Work Clothes

• Footwear

• Facial Masks

• Gloves

Personal Habits of Food Workers:• Taking Daily Baths • Trimming of Nails• Shaving and Haircuts for

Males• Covering of Wounds• Wearing of Jewelry• Wearing of Nail Polish or

false/artificial fingernails

• Smoking and Eating• Hand Washing• Tasting of Food• Storing Personal

Belongings• Other Personal Habits

What types of disease can good hand washing prevent?

• Diseases can spread through fecal-oral transmission.

• Infection which may be transmitted through this route include salmonellosis, shigellosis, hepatitis A, giardiasis, enterovirus, amoebiasis, and campylobacteriosis.

Salmonellosis• Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea,

fever, vomiting, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. In most cases, the illness lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

• In some cases, though, the diarrhea may be so severe, the patient becomes dangerously dehydrated and must be hospitalized.

Shigellosis• Shigella is a genus of bacteria that are a major cause of

diarrhea and dysentery – diarrhea with blood and mucus in the stools – throughout the world.

• In the body, they can invade and destroy the cells lining the large intestine, causing mucosal ulceration and bloody diarrhea.

• Apart from diarrhea, symptoms of Shigella infection include fever, abdominal cramps, and rectal pain.

Hepatitis A

• Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is primarily spread when an uninfected (and unvaccinated) person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the feces of an infected person. The disease is closely associated with a lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation and poor personal hygiene.

Giardiasis• Giardiasis is an infection of the small bowel by a single-

celled organism called Giardia lamblia. People become infected with the Giardia parasite after swallowing Giardia cysts often found in water contaminated by raw sewage or animal waste.

• Giardia can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, gas, and nausea.

Enterovirus

• The human enteroviruses are ubiquitous viruses that are transmitted from person to person via direct contact with virus shed from the gastrointestinal or upper respiratory tract.

• Diseases caused by echoviral infections range from the common cold and fever to aseptic meningitis and acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC).

Amoebiasis

• Symptoms can range from mild diarrhea to dysentery with blood and mucus in the stool.

• If the parasite reaches the bloodstream it can spread through the body, most frequently ending up in the liver where it causes amoebic liver abscesses

Campylobacteriosis

• Campylobacteriosis is an infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms of the infection include diarrhoea (often including the presence of mucus and blood), abdominal pain, malaise, fever, nausea and vomiting.

• Diseases also spread through indirect contact with respiratory secretions.

• Microorganisms which may be transmitted through this route include influenza, streptococcus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the common cold.

• These diseases may be spread indirectly by hands freshly soiled by respiratory discharges.

• This can be avoided by washing the hands after coughing or sneezing and after shaking hands with an individual who has been coughing or sneezing.

• Diseases may also be acquired when hands are contaminated with urine, saliva, or other moist body fluids.

• Microorganisms which may be transmitted by these body substances include cytomegalovirus, staphylococcal organisms, and the Epstein-barr virus.

Cytomegalovirus

• Acute cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a condition caused by a member of the herpesvirus family.

• CMV is a type of herpes viruses. The virus remains in your body for the rest of your life. If your immune system becomes weakened in the future, this virus may have the chance to reactivate, causing symptoms.

Staphylococcal

• Staphylococcal toxins are a common cause of food poisoning, as they can be produced in improperly-stored food.

Epstein-barr virus

• It is best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever). It is also associated with particular forms of cancer, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and conditions associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

• These germs may be transferred from person-to-person or indirectly by the contamination of food or inanimate objects such as toys.

Steps in Proper Hand Washing

• Wet the hands with warm, running water.

• With soap, thoroughly wash the hands and lather up to the elbow.

• Scrub thoroughly using a brush for the nails, then rinse.

• Resoap and rub hands for at least 20 seconds. Pay special attention to the back of the hands, wrists, between the fingers, and under the fingernails.

• Hands should be rinsed well under running water.

• Hands should be dried with a single-use towel or hot air dryer.

• Turn off the faucet using a paper towel to prevent contaminating it again.

• Use a disinfectant if available.

Wash hands after the following activities:

• Coming on duty or entering the kitchen.• Touching bare body parts other than clean

hands and the clean, exposed portions of arms.• Using the toilet• Coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or

disposable tissue, smoking, eating or drinking.

• Handling soiled equipment or utensils.• Handling money.• Handling cleaning materials.• Food preparation (this should be done as often

as necessary to eradicate microorganisms and to prevent cross-contamination when changing tasks).

• Switching from working with raw food to working with ready-to-eat food.

• Changing into uniform.• Having a break.• Leaving the kitchen.