4-4.
HEALTH AND PERSONAL HYGIENE OF FOOD SERVICE EMPLOYEES
a. Food service employees must be free of communicable disease when
handling food. The supervisor must inspect all food service personnel each day to
determine freedom from communicable disease.
b. In addition, the local medical authority may require health cards. However, a
health card or even an examination does not mean that a food service employee is free
of communicable disease. It is possible to have a health examination one day and be
sick the next day. In some parts of the world, health cards for workers will be
emphasized more than in the United States.
c. The daily hygiene habits of employees are important in maintaining sanitation.
Food service employees must have a neat and clean appearance. They must shower
or bathe daily, have clean hair, and trimmed, clean, and unpainted fingernails. Skin,
hair, and long, ragged fingernails are primary breeding grounds for bacteria. Dirty
employees are not only unattractive but also dangerous since they intensify the
possibility of the contamination from bacteria present on the hair, skin, and nails of even
clean people.
d. Excessive or ornate jewelry on the hands can also be a problem. Jewelry
allows food particles and dirt to accumulate and may interfere with proper handwashing.
Army food service personnel should not wear jewelry while preparing or handling food
except for plain wedding bands, engagement rings, or wrist watches.
e. Workers with infected cuts, burns, or sores cannot be allowed to handle food.
Workers who are coughing, sneezing, or showing symptoms of a cold or an intestinal
disease should also be kept from food handling duties. In some cases, the supervisor
will assign the worker a nonfood handling job; in other cases, the worker will be required
to report to sick call.
4-5.
SANITARY WORK PRATICES
All food service employees must follow sanitary work practices. These practices
are intended to prevent employees from transferring microbes to food. Sanitary work
practices include handwashing, the use of hair restraints, uniform maintenance,
restrictions on smoking, and the proper handling of food and utensils.
4-6.
HANDWASHING
a. Unclean hands are the most common source of food contamination. An
employee's hands are constantly touching articles contaminated with bacteria and then
touching food. Due to this, food service personnel must wash their hands often with
warm water and soap. Hands should be washed:
(1) Before beginning work.
MD0181
4-3