Principles of Food Sanitation

Other antiseptic hand washing compounds
include iodine and iodophors (complexes of
iodine with a carrier such as polyvinylpyrroli-
done). Although effective, iodine is irritating
and may cause allergic reactions (Larson,
1995). Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) is
incorporated in both surgical scrubs and hand
wash products. It has a broad spectrum of
activity, being effective against both gram-
positive and gram-negative bacteria with
approximately 6 hours of residual activity.
Chloroxylenol is less active than CHG, but its
activity persists over several hours. Triclosan,
another phenolic compound, has a broad
spectrum of activity against both gram-posi-
tive and gram-negative bacteria. Fendler et al.
(1998) reported different combinations of
gloving and hand washing to protect the
hands from E. coli-contaminated meat. Bare
hands with hourly washing and sanitizing
with alcohol had the lowest microbial counts,

and low levels were achieved without alcohol

alone in spite of the necessity for hand wash-

ing due to the physical soil from the meat.

Gloves should be put on after the hands

are washed and dried. However, gloves may

leak and natural rubber latex gloves may

cause allergenic reactions from the natural

rubber, which may contain traces of proteins

that trigger the allergenic response in sensi-

tized people. Furthermore, microorganisms

thrive in the warm and moist environment

under gloves if a protective, antiseptic lotion

is not applied under the gloves (Taylor,

2000). Contamination from unclean hands

will be smeared over the gloves. If the hands

are not dry, residual moisture forms an incu-

bation environment for bacteria under the

gloves. Workers should be reminded that soil

on gloves is not as easy to feel as on the bare

hands. Non-latex gloves should be consid-

ered for handling ready-to-eat foods.

Personal Hygiene and Sanitary Food Handling 93

Figure 6–3Recommended hand washing procedure. ©1997. Used by permission of the Hospitality Institute
of Technology and Management, St. Paul, Minnesota, http://www.hi-tm.com.