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As chefs, we know that it is very important to have personal hygiene to prevent food contamination, especially when we fall sick, the higher the chances there are to contaminate the food while preparing.
In addition, by having good personal hygiene enables to give a customer a good impression on us as we are the ones handling the food.
- Maintain good general health with regular checkups!
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| Regular Checkups by Sonny Abesamis at https://www.flickr.com/photos/enerva/11787823884 CC |
If we chefs fall sick, who is going to prepare food for the customers? Of course, if we are too ill, do not force ourselves to handle food. Stay at home and rest!
Our medical history relating to food borne illness should be checked. If necessary, we should be interviewed by a doctor and submit fecal and blood specimens and go through an X-ray screening, This is to ensure that we are in good health in order to prepare food for the customers and also if we were to get any serious injuries in the kitchen, we can send these medical records to the medical staff.
- Keep any burns or break in the skin covered with a clean, waterproof bandage.
A blue bandage is normally used in the kitchen as it is to differentiate the blue bandage easily if it were to accidentally drop into food during preparation. A skin-colored bandage is difficult to pick out.
The striking blue color helps in differentiating if it were to drop in the food
The best way is to put on the bandage and wear gloves if there are any cuts on the hands :D
Having gloves on helps to keep your injuries dry and prevent infection as well and reduces the chances of food contamination.
- Cover the mouth or nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and wash the hands afterwards.
Now what is Escherichia coli or commonly known as E.coli is?
It is a bacteria or a germ that lives in the digestive tract of humans and animals.
Although some might be harmless, some can cause diarrhea, anemia, kidney failure and in worst cases, death!
You get an E. coli infection by coming into contact with the feces, or stool, of humans or animals. This can happen when you drink water or eat food that has been contaminated by feces.
The most common way that E.coli is being spread is from one person to another, usually when an infected person does not wash his or her hands well after going to the toilet. E. coli can spread from an infected person's hands to other people or to objects.
One very common food example that has E.coli is raw fruits and vegetabless uch as lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, or unpasteurized apple cider or other unpasteurized juices.
No273 13 Oct 2009 Sneeze by mcfarlandmo at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcfarlandmo/4014611539
Single-use paper
handkerchief instead of a handkerchief is preferred
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| 360/365 - April 29, 2009 by Morgan at https://www.flickr.com/photos/meddygarnet/3489158588 CC
or best is to wear a mask, simple!
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Hence, it is very important to have personal hygiene as it reflects on us chefs while we are preparing food. By handling food in a hygienic way, we would not cause our customers to fall sick after eating our foods.
Thank you Deesha for the comment!! :D
Looks like i have left out the names of the bacteria, thanks for the reminder! :D
You have provided very detailed information on your blog. It is very informative and I gained extra knowledge from reading it especially about the bacteria part. Maybe you could state the type of illnesses that are unsafe for the chefs to not come to work? For example, chicken pox, Bird Flu etc.because sometimes flu and cough are common and chefs can wear a mask to work to prevent food from getting contaminated. Overall, good use of pictures and very easy to understand.