Food Safety Assurance Systems: Personal Hygiene and Employee Health

Outbreaks involving infected food workers in food-service settings have resulted in many cases of foodborne illness and deaths. Multiple-ingredient foods are most frequently associated with such outbreaks, probably because of frequent hand contact during preparation and serving. Many of the workers are asymptomatic shedders, are in contact with ill family members, handle raw foods of animal origin, or use improper hygienic practices. Their hands can carry billions of pathogens. Thus, barriers to contamination of food by workers include the use of utensils, gloves, and proper hand hygiene. Unfortunately, compliance with handwashing is not ideal, but can be improved through training and employee motivation.