Sanitation and Food Handling Processes

The waiter is bringing your food to the table - but is he bringing germs along with it?

Quick Glance: I'll Have the Chicken Pasta - Hold the Salmonella Please!

Have you ever thought about what it is like to work in a restaurant or a catering service?

Maybe you already have some experience in this field. Sanitation and proper food handling are of the utmost importance in the foodservice industry and even at home. This module will focus on cleanliness and learning how to keep an area clean and free of harmful pathogens. It will also focus on inspecting packaging and jars for defects that can contaminate food. Storing food at proper temperatures is a must! Improper temperature creates the perfect environment for pathogens to grow and multiply. Proper food handling techniques are important to prevent serious foodborne illnesses.

Explore: Food Safety

Food safety is a hot topic for many restaurants, hotels, and even home cooks. Proper food handling techniques are important to prevent serious foodborne illnesses. Even though the USDA says that the US’s food supply is the safest in the world, people are still getting sick and even dying form contaminants. Often times many do not even know they are sick until a few days later. Sickness can occur as quickly as 20 minutes after or 3 weeks after ingesting contaminated food. So how do we know what made us sick? Sometimes, we don’t! But, we can use protective measures to keep ourselves safe and those we love.

Take a look at the video below to get an overview and a better understanding of how this process happens.

FDA Guidelines: What You Need To Know

To keep your family safe from food poisoning, follow these four simple steps: clean, separate, cook, and chill.

Click on each step below to learn more.

Seven Ways to Prevent Foodborne Illnesses

The presentation below will cover ways to prevent foodborne illnesses and keep your food safe.

Practicing good food safety and handling tips happens everywhere, not just at home. Oftentimes, it is important to think food safety wherever you go. Food can become contaminated in a variety of ways. Some things that can contribute to foodborne illness are inadequate handwashing, cross-contamination, storage and cooking temperatures, and contamination of food by animal waste. The presentation below highlights some ways to prevent cross-contamination.

Scroll through the presentation below to learn more.

How Important is Hand Washing

It is vital to preventing foodborne pathogens. Scientists say that it is the #1 way to prevent sickness and contamination. It only takes about 20 seconds. Most educational resources recommend that you sing the Happy Birthday song twice for adequate germ removal.

You should wash hands in the following situations-

Before eating or preparing food
After the bathroom
After changing a dirty diaper
After coughing or sneezing
After shaking hands or touching someone that is sick
After handling garbage
After touching animals or their waste

What is even more is that the CDC reports that 1 in 3 people do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Now, that is pretty gross! Considering that the typical person’s hands has over 20 million microbes, one can see how important this simple task is. Many people ask if hand sanitizers are good enough? Water and soap are best but if it is not available, then sanitizer will work. If using it, make sure your hands are free of visible dirt or debris. Squirt a nickel-size portion and rub it vigorously into both hands. It is best to rub until the hands are dry. The hand sanitizer you choose should be at least 60% alcohol.

Watch the video below to learn more.

Challenge

So do you think you understand sanitation and food handling? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

Look at all the events below - Look at what you are doing and what you will be doing next. Click on the events that would require handwashing AFTER you completed it.

Takeaway: What Is Your Takeaway?

Many people have to worry about Foodborne illnesses, but pregnant and nursing mothers have to be especially careful. Listeria is a serious bacteria-based illness that mothers can get from eating soft cheeses, ready-to-eat foods like deli meat, and unpasteurized milk. The problem is that many pregnant mothers do not feel the symptoms, which are flu-like in nature. And, they are 10 times more likely to develop issues from Listeria than a non-pregnant person. If the mother ingests an infected food product the baby could suffer. The baby could have birth defects, brain and liver trouble, blindness, and even death. Some women even risk miscarriage if infected in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Pregnant women are urged to stay away from potentially harmful foods.

Click HERE to access additional lesson resources.

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