pneumonia, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid
fever, dysentery, and venereal diseases. Respi-
ratory diseases may be transferred via atom-
ized particles extruded from the nose and
mouth when a person talks, sneezes, or
coughs. When these particles become attached
to dust, they may remain suspended in the air
for an indefinite length of time. Other people
may then become infected upon inhaling these
particles.
Indirect Transmission
The host of an infectious disease may
transfer organisms to vehicles such as water,
food, and soil. Lifeless objects, other than
food, capable of transmitting infections are
doorknobs, telephones, pencils, books, wash-
room fittings, clothing, money, and knives.
Intestinal and respiratory diseases such as sal-
monellosis, dysentery, and diphtheria may be
spread by indirect transmission. To reduce the
transfer of microorganisms by indirect trans-
mission, washbasins should have foot-oper-
ated controls instead of hand-operated
faucets, and doors should be self-closing.
Requirements for Hygienic Practices
Management must establish a protocol to
ensure hygienic practices by employees.
Supervisors and managers should set an
example for employees by their own high lev-
els of hygiene and good health while convey-
ing the importance of these practices to the
employees. They should provide proper
laundry facilities for maintenance of cleanli-
ness through clean dressing rooms, services,
and welfare facilities.
Management should require employees to
have a pre-employment physical examination
to verify that they are in good physical, men-
tal, and emotional health. This is an excellent
opportunity to impress the importance of
good hygienic habits on a new employee and
to emphasize how employees “shed”Salmo-
nellaandShigella. Furthermore, those with
skin infections may be identified before
they handle food. All employees who work
with food should be checked regularly for
signs of illness, infection, and other unhealthy
conditions.
Several countries have a legal requirement
for pre-employment health examinations
and require that they be repeated at regular
intervals. However, this regulation has been
challenged because of the expense of routine
medical examinations, the difficulty of admin-
istering these plans, and because a clear
relationship between food handlers and food-
borne disease has not been established.
These practices should be conducted to
ensure personal hygiene:- Physical health should be maintained
and protected through practice of proper
nutrition and physical cleanliness. - Illness should be reported to the
employer before working with food so
that work adjustments can be made to
protect food from the employee’s illness
or disease. - Hygienic work habits should be devel-
oped to eliminate potential food con-
tamination. - During the work shift, hands should be
washed after using the toilet; handling
garbage or other soiled materials; han-
dling uncooked muscle foods, egg prod-
ucts, or dairy products; handling money;
smoking; coughing; or sneezing. - Personal cleanliness should be main-
tained by daily bathing and use of
deodorants, washing hair at least twice
a week, cleaning fingernails daily, using
a hat or hair net while handling food,
and wearing clean underclothing and
uniforms. - Employee hands should not touch
foodservice equipment and utensils.
Disposable gloves should be used when
contact is necessary.
Personal Hygiene and Sanitary Food Handling 95