Sanitary Food Handling – Role of Employees

Sanitary Food Handling – Role of Employees
A protective sanitation barrier between food and the sources of contamination should be provided during food handling.

Barriers include hairnets, disposable gloves, mouth guards, sneeze guards and food packaging and containers.

Food processing and foodservice firms should protect their employees and consumers from workers with disease or other microorganisms of public health concern that effect the wholesomeness or sanitary quality of food.

This precaution is important to maintain a good image and sound operating practices consistent with regulatory organizations.

In most communities, local health codes prohibit employees having communicable disease from handling foods or participating in activities that may result in contamination of food or food contact surface.

Responsible employees should exercise caution in selecting employees by screening unhealthy individuals.

Although some areas no longer require health cards because of the expense involved, many local health department require all employees who handle food to be examined by a physician who will issue a health card only to healthy individual.

Selection of employees should be predicted upon these facts:

*Absence of communicable diseases should be verified through a country health card or a physician’s report.

*Applicants should not exhibit evidence of a sanitary hazard such as open sores or presence of excessive ski infections or acne.

*Applicants who display evidence of respiratory problems should not be hired to handle food or to work in food processing or food preparation areas.

*Applicants should be clean and neatly groomed and should wear clothing free or unpleasant odor.

*Applicants should successfully complete a sanitation course and examination such as that provided by National Restaurant Association.

Sanitary Food Handling – Role of Employees

Problems of Chemical Residues

Problems of Chemical Residues
A variety of chemical have been in use in modern agrohorticultural and animal husbandry practices and these chemicals may remain in the plant crops or animal foods at concentrations that may be hazardous to the consumer.

Thus excess use of inorganic nitrogenous fertilizers in the soil may cause a rise in the level of nitrite or nitrate in the vegetative plant portions especially in the leafy vegetables.

Weedicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides and sprouting inhibitors of diverse chemical nature are used in farm practices and pesticides and fumigants in storage warehouses.

Residues of these compounds or their metabolites may survive in the foods.

Anabolic steroids or their analogues and antibiotics have been used for fattening meat animals and poultry and milk releasing hormones have been used in dairy animals.

Such treatments may leave residues in the flesh or milk. A close monitoring of the residue levels has now become necessary in view of the liberal usage of these treatments.

In many countries, tolerances have been laid down for these chemicals in specific foods.
Problems of Chemical Residues