Which Hygiene Practices are Required for Food Service Workers?

In a fast-paced field like the food service industry, maintaining proper hygiene is non-negotiable. It's not just about creating a clean image; it's about ensuring the safety and health of your customers. Foodborne illnesses can have devastating consequences, not just for diners but also for a business's reputation. 

For anyone handling food, whether cooking, serving, or prepping, upholding strict hygiene practices is essential to prevent contamination and meet safety standards. In this blog, we’ll go over the best hygiene practices to ensure that anyone who cooks, touches, or serves food maintains high levels of personal hygiene. 

What Is a Foodborne Illness? 

Foodborne illness, commonly referred to as food poisoning, is a condition caused by consuming contaminated food or beverages. This contamination can result from harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins that develop during food handling, preparation, or storage. 

For example, everyone, including healthy people, possesses certain types of bacteria, and some of the bacteria can cause others to become extremely ill. These bacterial variations get passed on when an infected person touches food that the customer digests. 

Symptoms of foodborne illness vary widely but often include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever.

Why Is Personal Hygiene for Food Handlers Important?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die, highlighting the critical need for proper hygiene practices in food service to prevent contamination and protect public health. 

Personal hygiene is essential for food handlers because it directly impacts food safety and prevents the spread of foodborne illnesses. Food handlers often work in close contact with food, utensils, and preparation surfaces, creating opportunities for harmful bacteria, viruses, or contaminants to transfer if proper hygiene isn't maintained. 

Moreover, if causing your customers to contract foodborne illnesses wasn't scary enough, because of its importance, restaurant inspectors can pass or fail a restaurant for lack of compliance. 

Top Hygiene Practices for Food Service Workers 

Now that you understand the importance of personal hygiene, let's dive into some tips for maintaining it. 

Handwashing

Most likely, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of personal hygiene for food handlers is handwashing. Handwashing is essential for serving contaminant-free food.

When you're washing your hands, use soap and warm water—and don't stop at your hands! 

Make sure to clean the back of your hands and wrists, between your fingers, and under your fingernails. 

Once you've finished washing your hands, you need to dry them with a clean towel, paper towel, or air dryer. Wash your hands frequently, especially after:

• Going to the bathroom
• Handling raw food
• Touching your face
• Going to the front of the house.

Even if you wear gloves, you still need to wash your hands regularly, as well as change your gloves frequently. Employers need to provide the appropriate handwashing resources and place them in convenient locations for employees to take advantage of.

Employers and management should also lead by example and practice the same handwashing best practices they want their employees to follow.

Clothing

Dirty clothing is one of the leading bacteria carriers. Clothing can quickly and easily transport bacteria from one place to the other as you move around the building. When you show up for your shift, wear clean clothing, not the same uniform from the day before.

If your uniform or clothing gets heavily soiled or is in contact with raw meat, your employer should provide you with a replacement uniform. Anyone handling food should never wear jewelry because it can easily fall into food. 

Additionally, jewelry can transport bacteria just as easily as clothing. You also need to cover your hair. For instance, you can use hairnets and tie long hair back.

If you have facial hair, you might also need to cover it with a hairnet. Similar to gloves, hairnets are meant to be disposable and should only be used once before throwing them away.

Health

As we mentioned above, healthy people can transfer harmful bacteria to the food they're preparing. However, the risk of foodborne illness increases when employees are sick.

If you have flu-like symptoms, a cold, or an eye infection, you need to stay away from work until your symptoms have stopped for at least 48 hours. If you start to feel sick during work, tell your supervisor right away so you can leave.

If you miss work because you're sick, you might have to provide a doctor's note to confirm you're no longer ill and can return to work. Illnesses aren't the only thing food handlers have to avoid!

You'll need to cover cuts and sores with appropriate bandages and gloves. If you are experiencing any sort of wound infection or discharge, you must be immediately removed from the kitchen or food-handling area.

General Best Food Service Hygiene Practices

Although we've covered handwashing, clothing, and health, there is still so much more that goes into personal hygiene for food handlers. 

Here are some miscellaneous personal hygiene guidelines to follow when you're working with food:

• Avoid tasting food with your fingers or a utensil that is then returned to the food.
• Don't chew gum while cooking or handling any food.
• If you sneeze, touch your face or body, or smoke, you need to thoroughly wash your hands before continuing to prepare food.
• Sweat happens, but if you experience it while cooking, wipe it away with a cloth and then wash your hands thoroughly.
• Frequently change your apron or other protective clothing when moving from one work area to another. 

What Are the Consequences of Poor Hygiene Practices?

Poor hygiene practices in the food service industry can have severe consequences for both customers and businesses. For customers, inadequate hygiene can lead to foodborne illness outbreaks, causing health issues like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and, in severe cases, hospitalization or long-term complications. 

For businesses, the consequences include failing health inspections, hefty fines, legal actions, and even forced closures. Beyond financial and legal repercussions, a single incident can damage a company's reputation, leading to a loss of customer trust and long-term revenue. 

Ensuring proper hygiene is a regulatory requirement and a critical step in maintaining public safety and business success. 

Food Safety With Learn2Serve by 360training 

The best way to avoid the consequences of poor hygiene practices is with accredited and regulatory-approved training from a trusted provider, like Learn2Serve by 360training. 
Our Food Handler Training Course will not only explain the importance of personal hygiene but will also provide actionable ways to practice hygiene. For managers, we also offer Food Safety Manager Training. Sign up today!

How Does Bacteria Get Passed From Person to Person?

Everyone, including healthy people, possesses certain types of bacteria, and some of the bacteria can cause others to become extremely ill. These bacterial variations get passed on when an infected person touches food that the customer digests.

If causing your customers to contract foodborne illnesses wasn't scary enough, because of its importance, restaurant inspectors can pass or fail a restaurant for lack of compliance. Now that you have an understanding of the importance of personal hygiene, let's dive into some tips for maintaining it!

Hand Washing

Most likely, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of personal hygiene for food handlers is hand washing. Hand washing is essential for serving contaminant-free food.

When you're washing your hands, use soap and warm water—and don't stop at your hands! Make sure to clean the back of your hands, wrists, between your fingers, and under your fingernails. Once you've finished washing your hands, you need to dry them with a clean towel, paper towel, or air dryer. Wash your hands frequently, especially after:

• Going to the bathroom
• Handling raw food
• Touching your face
• Going to the front of the house.

When Must A Food Handler Wash Their Hands?

Even if you wear gloves, you still need to wash your hands regularly, as well as change your gloves frequently. Employers need to provide the appropriate hand washing resources and place them in convenient locations for employees to take advantage of.

Employers and management should also lead by example and practice the same handwashing best practices they want their employees to follow.

Clothing

Dirty clothing is one of the leading bacteria carriers. Clothing can quickly and easily transport bacteria from one place to the other as you move around the building. When you show up for your shift, wear clean clothing, not the same uniform from the day before.

If your uniform or clothing gets heavily soiled or is in contact with raw meat, your employer should provide you with a replacement uniform. Anyone handling food should never wear jewelry because it can easily fall into food.

Additionally, jewelry can transport bacteria just as easily as clothing. You also need to cover your hair. For instance, you can use hairnets and tie long hair back.

If you have facial hair, you might also need to cover it with a hairnet. Similar to gloves, hairnets are meant to be disposable and should only be used once before throwing them away.

Health

As we mentioned above, healthy people can transfer harmful bacteria to the food they're preparing. However, the risk of foodborne illness increases when employees are sick.

If you have flu-like symptoms, a cold, or an eye infection, you need to stay away from work until your symptoms have stopped for at least 48 hours. If you start to feel sick during work, tell your supervisor right away so you can leave.

If you miss work because you're sick, you might have to provide a doctor's note to confirm you're no longer ill and can return to work. Illnesses aren't the only thing food handlers have to avoid!

You'll need to cover cuts and sores with appropriate bandages and gloves. If you are experiencing any sort of wound infection or discharge, you must be immediately removed from the kitchen or food-handling area.

General Best Practices

Although we've covered handwashing, clothing, and health, there is still so much more that goes into personal hygiene for food handlers. Here are some miscellaneous personal hygiene guidelines to follow when you're working with food:

• Avoid tasting food with your fingers or a utensil that is then returned to the food
• Don't chew gum while cooking or handling any food
• Stay away from foods that don't need to be cooked like salads or cooked meat unless you're serving them. This will help prevent contamination.
• If you sneeze, touch your face or body, or smoke, you need to thoroughly wash your hands before continuing to prepare food.
• Sweat happens, but if you experience it while cooking, wipe it away with a cloth and then wash your hands thoroughly.
• Frequently change your apron or other protective clothing when moving from one work area to another.

Learn More About Personal Hygiene Best Practices

The best way to ensure you know how to follow personal hygiene best practices is with training. Our Food Handler Training Course will not only explain the importance of personal hygiene but will also provide actionable ways to practice hygiene. Sign up today!