PRP 5: Personnel

Introduction

People who harvest, slaughter, store, transport, process or prepare foods are often responsible for the microbiological contamination of these food products. Food handlers may transfer pathogens from raw foods (meat, fish, poultry) to foods that will not be heated anymore before consumption or that are heated insufficiently, resulting in an increased risk of the multiplication of spoilage organisms and pathogens.

Transmission of Pathogenic Microorganisms From, By and to Man

During acute illness, most bacteria and viruses, that cause enteric diseases, are shed in faeces in large numbers and for some diseases also in urine. Persons suffering from salmonellosis may shed as many as 10⁹ cells per gram of faeces during this phase. Where an enteric disease is highly endemic, large numbers of pathogens may be present in sewage. If this is not properly treated, it may contaminate water supplies, shellfish growing waters or irrigated crops.

Personnel infected with the hepatitis A virus may also contaminate foods. This virus may be shed in the faeces as well as in the urine. It is essential that infected personnel is excluded from food handling operations until 14 days past the onset of the symptoms of hepatitis. Purulent skin infections are often heavily loaded with staphylococci or streptococci. These are readily transferred to foods when infected persons handle foods. Also, persons having a cold can contaminate food products. Thus, no ill persons with diarrhoea, vomiting, colds or infected skin lesions should handle food products.

Click here to view a video that explains food contamination.

Pathogens are shed during convalescence after acute illnesses. This is known as the 'carrier state'. A carrier state can develop after mild symptoms, asymptotic infection or acute illness. The carrier state can last rather long. Although the person is not ill, he can transfer the germs via faeces and insufficient hygiene to others or contaminate food products.

Cross Contamination

Pathogens originating from raw food products can be transferred via hands to cooked or other foods that are touched subsequently. This type of cross-contamination can only be avoided when the personnel is trained not to handle cooked foods with hands without gloves.

Pathogenic microorganisms originating from food products can be transmitted to persons when they work with foods. Many infections so acquired are zoonosis, i.e., diseases that are transmitted between animals and man.

Examples are: - brucellosis caused by the Brucellae-infection

• Skin infections caused by staphylococci and group A streptococci
• Meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes

Click here to view a video that explains Brucellosis.

The Health of the Personnel

Every person that is in contact with food products or food constituents must be subjected to a medical examination. This avoids the transfer of diseases such as typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, diphtheria, tuberculosis and other bacterial diseases and also virus infections such as hepatitis and parasitic diseases, through food products to other persons.

Supervisors of food establishments may inspect the hands and faces of personnel for skin lesions. Infected persons are forbidden to handle heated or other critical food products. Workers must be required to report diarrhoea, colds, fever or purulent skin lesions. Supervisors must decide to suspend such persons until the condition has cleared up, advise them to seek treatment, or arrange a change of tasks not requiring contact with food.

A first-aid kit should be available for the immediate treatment of cuts, burns or other injuries. Sticking plasters must have loud colours so that they draw attention when they fall off the skin and end up in the food product. When a metal detector is present in the production line, sticking plasters with a metal strip must be used.

Hygienic Handling of Foods

Contamination of food products can be avoided or at least minimised by taking special care when handling raw and cooked foods.

Raw foods are often contaminated by foodborne pathogens, which can readily contaminate the hands of persons who handle them and be transferred to clothing or towels that the foods or hands touch. Hands must therefore be washed thoroughly after handling raw foods. Towels or cloths used in areas for preparing raw foods should not be used where cooked food products are processed. They should be washed frequently.

Because Staphylococcus aureus and certain other microorganisms cannot be completely removed by hand washing or killed by disinfectants, cooked foods should not be touched if they can be avoided.

Gloves can be a barrier between foods and the resident bacteria, but they can become as contaminated as hands. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus accumulate as hands perspire by the prolonged wearing of gloves. Thin gloves are particularly useful when cooking foods or foods that will not be heated before consumption must be handled. They should be worn only for a particular task and discarded when they become soiled, punctured or torn.

Personal Hygiene

Click here to view a video that explains food facility hygiene.

The rules for personal hygiene need to be very clear. They can be hung up in the company. The management of the company should watch if those hygiene rules are followed. This can be done with a hygiene audit where a checklist is used. The results should be discussed with the personnel.

Hand Washing

Thorough hand washing and rinsing can remove many transient food-borne pathogens. Resident bacteria are not readily removed by hand washing.

Hands must be washed and rinsed with potable water and soap or another type of cleaning agent and dried with a clean disposable towel or in another hygienic way. Hands should be washed:

• Before work.
• After using the lavatory
• After coughing or sneezing
• After the treatment of raw products
• When they are filthy through another treatment

Hair Covers

Hair can be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, men lose to 500 hairs a day. The presence of hair in food is far from hygienic. Therefore, hairs must be kept together and covered completely with an adapted headcover. They should be put on before entering the work area.

Clothing

Personnel should wear appropriate clothing that can be replaced at regular times and cleaned profoundly. Clothing and personal possessions (jewels and watches) must be left in the clothing room.

To avoid the storage of strange objects in coat pockets, which can end up into food products, work clothing may not have pockets.

Eating, Drinking, Smoking

In the production area, it is not allowed to eat, drink or smoke. It is irresponsible and enhances the chances of transferring organisms by hand from lips and mouth to foods. Eating takes place in a refectory, which is cleaned at regular times.

Visitors

Visitors are the responsibility of the department that invites them. They have to take care that the visitors know the hygiene rules. Visitors have to wear company clothing (coat, hairnet and shoes) to guarantee hygiene. The same hygiene requirements need to be maintained by the management.

Training of Personnel

One of the most threatening situations in a company is that routine handling ends up in bad personnel hygiene. Therefore, a training program needs to be elaborated in a way that the person receives enough training to work in a hygienic way.