Outbreaks Where Food Workers Have Been Implicated in the Spread of Foodborne Disease. Part 7. Barriers To Reduce Contamination of Food by Workers

Abstract

Contamination of food and individuals by food workers has been identified as an important contributing factor during foodborne illness investigations. Physical and chemical barriers to prevent microbial contamination of food are hurdles that block or reduce the transfer of pathogens to the food surface from the hands of a food worker, from other foods, or from the environment. In food service operations, direct contact of food by hands should be prevented by the use of barriers, especially when gloves are not worn. Although these barriers have been used for decades in food processing and food service operations, their effectiveness is sometimes questioned or their use may be ignored. Physical barriers include properly engineered building walls and doors to minimize the flow of outside particles and pests to food storage and food preparation areas; food shields to prevent aerosol contamination of displayed food by customers and workers; work clothing designated strictly for work (clothing worn outdoors can carry undesirable microorganisms, including pathogens from infected family members, into the work environment); and utensils such as spoons, tongs, and deli papers to prevent direct contact between hands and the food being prepared or served. Money and ready-to-eat foods should be handled as two separate operations, preferably by two workers. Chemical barriers include sanitizing solutions used to remove microorganisms (including pathogens) from objects or materials used during food production and preparation and to launder uniforms, work clothes, and soiled linens. However, laundering as normally practiced may not effectively eliminate viral pathogens.

Occurrence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-encoding Escherichia coli in artisanal mozzarella cheese in Brazil: risk factor associated with food workers

“…Altekruse et al (1998) identified 32 cheese-associated outbreaks in the United States, 11 attributed to contamination at the farm, during the manufacture or during processing (before distribution), and 2 among them were associated with eating mozzarella cheese (1 improper pasteurization, 1 post-pasteurization contamination). According to Todd et al (2010), several foodborne outbreak investigation reports have identified the hands of food workers as the source of pathogens in the implicated food. Among them a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2006) weekly report which reported that during August-September 2005 a total of 52 (2.44%) of 2,160 inmates at a state correctional facility reported diarrhea, including 17 (33%) with bloody diarrhea.…”

Intervention strategies for the reduction of microbiological contamination on the hands of food handlers

“…Corroborating with this, Phang & Bruhn (2011), also found in their study that the hands of the food handlers were the vehicle with the highest possibilities for cross contamination during the work routine. This may be justified by the fact that the contamination of the hands of food handlers is one of the factors found by studies to make the greatest contribution to foodborne disease outbreaks (Todd et al, 2010).…”

A cross sectional descriptive study of hand washing knowledge and practices among primary school children in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

“…Microbes are present on all the surfaces of the hand, particularly in high concentration under the nails. 32,33 Around 61% children all over Mumbai had visible dirt in their finger nails and 39% had grown nails at the time of interview. For effective rubbing of all the surfaces of hands, particularly the nails and space between the fingers for at least 20 seconds is recommended which were found to be practiced by very small percentage of children.…”