Clean Hands and Safe Food (2303)

Unclean kitchen facilities, improper personal hygiene, or careless handling of food by the cook may cause food-related illness. Your hands can carry bacteria that can infect food.

Remember to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water. Do not forget the areas between the fingers and under the fingernails. If you use your hands to mix food, clean under your nails with a brush.

Do not wear rings or other jewelry when you prepare food since food particles may stick in the crevices and corners. If you have pimples, boils, infected cuts or burns on your hands, use disposable plastic gloves to prevent the spread of infection. Always wash your hands before putting gloves on and after taking gloves off.

Keep clean hands away from your mouth, nose and hair. Stifle sneezes and coughs with a clean facial tissue and wash your hands again. After going to the bathroom or changing diapers on an infant, always wash your hands before touching food again. When you have a cold or flu, try to stay out of the kitchen if you can. But if you still have to handle food, be especially careful about handwashing, and use utensils instead of hands to touch food.

Always wash your hands after touching garbage, poisons, cleaning supplies or anything that soils your hands. This rule also applies to any contact with pets, their dishes or bedding.

Any even if your kitchen is "clean enough to eat off the floor," don't pick up spilled food from the floor and eat it or mix it with uncontaminated food. A solution of diluted household bleach is a great sanitizer for counters, tools and hands. Use 1 tablespoon bleach in a gallon of water. Correct any bad habits, and learn to practice good personal hygiene.

For more information on food safety, contact your local extension office.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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