Hand washing is the key to safety

 

Did you know that on each square centimeter of your skin, there are about 1500 bacteria? Then again, with proper hand hygiene you may eliminate nearly half of these bacteria and reduce cases of food-borne illness (food poisoning) that might affect you and your family.

Maintain good hand hygiene:

• In your home: It is important to take your time when you wash your hands. Use water and soap and make sure that you dry them well.
• In your kitchen:
• If accidentally the faucet got dirtied with food residues, rinse it with soap and water to remove traces of dirt.
• For the care of your hands, try using warm water and rub your hands briskly with friction on your wrists, between your fingers and your fingertips.
• Always have soap available next to the sink, and make hand washing an everyday habit especially before touching anything in your kitchen.

When to Wash Your Hands?

BEFORE	AFTER
Caring for babies	Changing diapers
Handling foods such as washing fruits and vegetables	Handling raw meat/poultry or unwashed fruits or vegetables
Cooking	Getting visible soil on your hands
Eating	Going to the toilet
Giving medications	Playing with pets
Putting contacts in eyes	Coughing or sneezing
	Smoking, eating or drinking
	Coming back home from work or outside

Is using Gloves a Good Practice in the Kitchen?

You can use disposable gloves when you are in direct contact with food for example when stripping off flesh from chicken or when doing some stuffing, however gloves are disposable meaning that they need to be used just once and discarded. Make sure not to wash and reuse them because they might become a source of contamination.