In this lesson, we are going to take what we have learnt in precious lessons and apply it to the work place. We will look at how food handlers need to practice good personal hygiene and apply good manufacturing practices.
Contamination Sources – Recap from Lesson One
It is important to remember the different sources of food hazards / contamination:
Physical – Physical objects that are present in or around the processing area
Chemical – Any chemical or substance that is not meant to be the food and includes Allergens
Biological – Micro organisms and their byproducts that are hard to see with the naked eye
The key to keeping food safe and healthy is to control the chances of cross contamination from the above.
Refresh your knowledge on the sources of contamination by completing the following activity.
Let’s look at the tools we can use to reduce the chances of contamination:
Personal Hygiene
A food handler must maintain a high level of personal hygiene and follow safe habits to protect the community.
Some Do’s and Don’ts to maintain good hygiene and minimise cross contamination are:
Do
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and warm running water
- Wear clean clothing and or an apron.
- Wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hair nets and gloves to minimise cross contamination with hair and other contaminants
- Minimise unnecessary contact with food
- Cover wounds with waterproof bandages
Do not
- Work if you are sick – especially if you have vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, a sore throat with a fever
- Touch your mouth, nose and eyes
- Wear jewelry that could cause contamination
- Sneeze, cough or blow over unprotected food or surfaces
- Spit, smoke or use tobacco where food is handled
Hand Washing
Hands are a major source of contamination and a food handler needs to be aware of good practices when it comes to hand hygiene.
Watch the following video which takes you through how to wash hands effectively and other good practices.
Source: YouTube – How to Wash Your Hands Properly
Your company may have a slightly different set up for washing hands, be sure to follow your companies process and guidelines.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
What are Good Manufacturing Practices?
- A set of industry best practices to reduce contamination = Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
- Good Manufacturing Practices provide guidelines and standards on personal hygiene as well as process hygiene and design. GMP can also help with food processing equipment and premises construction to minimise sources of contamination.
- We use GMP and standards to maintain a high level of hygiene for food handlers and food premises
- We also use Pre Requisite programs to strengthen the effectiveness of GMP
- Ask your company for the GMP rules or manual to ensure your follow the best practices.
What are Pre Requisite Programs?
- Food manufacturing companies use pre requisite programs to help control the most common hazards that are encountered when manufacturing food.
- The following figure lists some of the more common pre requisite programs
How do I do my Part?
In summary, as a food handler, you can keep food safe by doing the following:
- Apply good personal hygiene
- Follow good manufacturing practices
- Follow relevant company procedures (includes all prerequesites)
- Report any suspected contamination
- Keep learning and asking questions on how you can apply best practices
