Food and Drug Branch

People can carry pathogens on their skin, in their hair, on their hands, and in their digestive system or respiratory tract. Infected food workers who handle food products and have poor personal hygiene are an important cause of food contamination and foodborne illness outbreaks. Under current GMP, everyone working in direct contact with food, food-contact surfaces, and food-packaging materials should use good hygienic practices to protect against contamination of the food.

Personal hygiene begins at home. This includes daily bathing, washing hair and wearing clean clothes. Personal hygiene continues at the plant by wearing clean smocks, hairnets, and clean gloves, where appropriate.

Hand Washing

Human hands are used for more than just handling food products. They are used to greet others, to comb hair, to eat, to scratch, and to handle unsanitary objects, and they are used when using the toilet. During these activities, hands may become contaminated with harmful microorganisms and in some cases harmful chemical substances. These microorganisms or chemicals can be transferred to food or food-contact surfaces if hands are not washed thoroughly.

Employees should know when and how to properly wash their hands. Fingernails should be trimmed, and maintained so that hand washing will effectively remove soil from under and around them. Polished or painted fingernails should be adequately cleaned and gloves should be worn. Hands should always be washed:

• before food preparation,
• after touching human body parts,
• after using the toilet,
• after coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or tissue,
• after using tobacco, eating, or drinking,
• after engaging in any activity that may contaminate the hands such as taking out the garbage, handling cleaning chemicals, or picking up dropped items,
• after caring for or touching animals,
• before returning to the workstation, regardless of the reason for leaving the station.

Improper hand washing is as dangerous as not washing hands at all. Thorough hand washing is important in preventing illness. Employees should follow these steps to properly wash hands:

• wet hands with warm running water,
• apply a liberal amount of soap to the hands,
• scrub the surface of the hands, wrists, and forearms vigorously for at least 20 seconds (many microorganisms can be removed by friction alone)
• scrub the areas in between the fingers, under nails,
• wash the fingertips,
• rinse hands under clean, warm running water,
• dry with a clean, disposable towel.

Conveniently located and properly equipped hand washing facilities are one key to getting employees to wash their hands. Hand washing stations should be located in or adjacent to restrooms and should also be located in food processing areas. Hand washing stations should be clean and well maintained and should not be used for purposes other than hand washing. Hand washing stations should be equipped with hot and cold running water under pressure, a supply of soap, and disposable, single use towels. Warm water is recommended because cold water does not remove oils on the hands that may harbor microorganisms. Individual disposable towels are more sanitary than cloth towels for drying hands and are the preferred hand-drying devices. Adequate waste containers should be supplied for used towels.

Education and training programs should be designed to help employees involved in food processing understand what is expected of them and why it is important. Company expectations for proper hygiene and hand washing procedures should be clearly defined in pre-employment and periodic training programs. New employees should receive training prior to beginning employment, even if it takes considerable time and effort. Principles of personal hygiene and sanitation should be periodically reviewed with all employees. Prominently placed signs or posters are a good reminder.

Hygiene

Clothing worn by employees in food processing and production areas should be kept clean. Dirty and soiled clothes can be a source of contamination of food products. Clean uniforms, aprons, or other outer garments that are put on after the employee gets to work can help to minimize contamination from sources outside the processing facility. Clothing, food for meals or snacks, or other personal belongings should be stored in lockers or break room areas that are located away from processing areas or areas where equipment or utensils are washed.

Hair in food can be a source of both microbiological and physical contamination. Food workers should be encouraged to keep their hair clean and must wear appropriate hair and/or beard restraints at all times in food processing areas to prevent contamination of the finished products.

Under current GMP, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, watches, and other body part ornaments should not be worn because they can harbor microorganisms that can cause foodborne illness. Jewelry can also fall into food causing a physical hazard. Jewelry should be removed prior to entering the processing facility.

Employees should eat food, chew gum, drink beverages, or use tobacco only in designated areas away from food or food-packaging materials or where equipment or utensils are washed. Healthy people can frequently harbor pathogens in their mouth and respiratory tract. Pathogens can move to employees’ hands and then to the food products that they are processing when hand-to-mouth contact occurs. Hands should be washed every time an employee returns to work.

Perspiration may contaminate the food, food-contact surfaces, hands, and clothing. Wiping a sweaty brow with a cloth or hand introduces potential contamination. Ideally, the processing facility should be maintained at cool temperatures to minimize perspiration.

Diarrhea or open lesions are also a source of pathogens. Any employee with symptoms associated with acute gastrointestinal illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or jaundice should be prohibited from working with food. Company policy should encourage employees to report illnesses to their supervisor, so that the employee may be reassigned to a job that does not require contact with food.

Employees diagnosed with Salmonella Typhi, Shigella, E. coli O157:H7, or hepatitis A should not perform jobs that require contact with food or food-contact surfaces until a doctor determines that they are disease free. All of these diseases are easily transferred to foods and are considered severe health hazards.

Exposed areas of arms, wrists, and forearms that contain infected wounds should be completely covered by a dry, tight-fitting, impermeable bandage. Cuts or burns on the food worker’s hands should be thoroughly bandaged, and covered with a clean glove. Food workers should minimize hand contact with processed food products. Use suitable utensils such as tongs, spatulas, or single-use gloves where possible. Single-use gloves are frequently used to avoid direct hand contact, but gloves may create a false sense of security for food processing workers.

Gloves and Dips

Dirty gloves, like dirty hands, can contaminate products. Single-use gloves should never be washed; they should always be thrown away when they need to be changed. An employee should put on fresh gloves only after thoroughly washing his/her hands. Employees should use sanitizer hand-dips frequently to reduce recontamination while on the processing line but not to replace handwashing.

Employees should understand the importance of maintaining clean gloves. Single-use gloves should be changed after any activity that may contaminate them. In other words, single-use gloves should be changed as often as needed and for the same reasons an employee would wash their bare hands.

If non-disposable gloves such as rubber gloves are used in the facility they should be washed as frequently as bare hands. Hands should be washed before and after putting on non-disposable gloves.

Hand or glove dips also may be considered. Sanitizers designed for this purpose can be obtained from sanitation supply companies and should be prepared according to the label instructions. The sanitizing solution should be monitored frequently to ensure the proper concentration is maintained. Hand or glove dips are only appropriate for use with clean hands or clean gloves. These dips are not a substitute for proper hand washing.

Boot dips are sometimes used to sanitize the bottom of boots or shoes when an employee moves from one part of the facility to another. When properly maintained, boot dips can reduce the spread of microorganisms throughout a facility. However, the sanitizing solution in boot dips can easily become depleted. The sanitizer concentrations should be tested frequently to ensure effectiveness.

Toilet Facilities

Toilet facilities are required for all employees. Employee restrooms should be conveniently located and accessible to employees during all hours of operation. Smocks and gloves should be left in the designated processing area and not worn into restrooms or breakrooms. Toilet facilities near work areas promote good personal hygiene, reduce lost productivity, and permit closer supervision of employees. Materials used in the construction of toilet rooms and toilet fixtures should be durable and easily cleanable. The floors, walls and fixtures in toilet areas should be clean and well maintained. Toilet tissue and disposable paper towels should be supplied along with easy-to-clean containers for waste materials. Automatically actuated toilet flushing systems and sinks will reduce the frequency of touching and additional hand contact before leaving the facilities.

Poor sanitation in toilet areas can spread disease. Dirty toilet facilities also have a negative effect on the attitudes and work habits of the employees. These areas should be included in the routine cleaning program to assure they are kept clean and in good repair. Food or food packaging materials should never be stored in restroom areas.

Employee Training and Management’s Role

Managers play a very important role in helping their employees prevent contamination of food products, such as providing health and hygiene training programs for employees. Managers should provide a clear understanding of the proper personal hygiene practices and company policies regarding illness and other health conditions, such as infected wounds that could contaminate products. Policies should provide reassurance that employees will not lose their jobs if they report an illness or a communicable disease.

Management should continually emphasize how important it is for employees to maintain a high level of cleanliness and good health and should serve as role models for good work habits and acceptable hygienic practices. They should also ensure that visitors are required to follow the same hygienic practices as employees, and have policies in place that prevent unauthorized personnel from being in food processing areas.

Adequate training is very important and should be documented. As part of the GMP, it is advisable to have a written training plan for employees that include procedures and documentation of training activities. It should cover topics on proper food handling, food protection, and concepts on how insanitary practices and poor personal hygiene can lead to consumer and employee illnesses. Once employees understand what is expected of them, effective supervision of employee practices in food processing areas should be used to ensure that employees follow proper procedures. Training should be reviewed whenever incorrect practices are observed.

Employees are more likely to follow good personal hygiene practices when facilities and supplies are adequate. Management is responsible for providing properly located and maintained facilities and supplies that will allow employees to adhere to personal hygiene requirements. Management should provide and maintain the following facilities:

• dressing and changing rooms that are adequate and properly maintained,
• laundry services and/or uniform services as necessary,
• designated employee areas for breaks, where eating and drinking are allowed,
• strategically placed and well-stocked hand-washing facilities throughout the production area,
• restrooms that are conveniently located, accessible to employees during all hours of operation, and are properly maintained.

In summary, processed food operations should be protected from contamination with microorganisms or foreign substances. Achieving this goal requires a healthy, clean, and properly trained workforce that understands the importance of proper hand washing techniques and other personal hygiene practices. Adequate training programs and management supervision are important elements in a program to ensure preparation of safe processed foods.

People

Employees come in contact with food products many times during processing and should be trained in safe food handling. This is because humans are often the vectors involved in the spread of disease, like the common cold or even food-borne illness.

Employees may transfer foodborne illness-causing microorganisms to processed food at various points in processing operations, such as:

• receiving ingredients,
• material warehousing and cold storage,
• unloading ingredients from delivery or storage containers,
• preparing product for machine processing,
• mixing, blending, or processing,
• packaging,
• weighing,
• boxing,
• warehousing finished products.

GMP also emphasize the need for adequate employee training in proper food handling, hand washing and food protection. Strict adherence to GMP is important, and employees should have the knowledge and understanding to carry out their responsibilities properly. Training should cover the dangers of insanitary practices and poor personal cleanliness, and how these practices can lead to consumer and employee illnesses. Adequate training of employees is everyone’s responsibility and needs to be assigned to competent supervisory personnel.

GMP and good employee hygiene practices should be followed each step of the way by everyone including forklift operators, management, and visitors to the plant to reduce the chances of spreading food borne illnesses.

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