COMMERCIAL FOOD HANDLING

COMMERCIAL FOOD HANDLING

I would much sooner trust almost any greasy spoon over eating at most private homes. The reason is simply that most eating establishments have at least been exposed to food handling regulations and have some sense of what’s correct, whereas most other individuals don’t seem to have a clue. In many homes, the skins of fruits, such as oranges and cantaloupes are usually not washed, fingers are licked, hands which have not been just washed get into foods, hands may have been coughed or sneezed into, the same utensil is used repeatedly for tasting …. One can go on and on. For many years already, I have been pleasantly surprised seeing commercial food handlers coughing into their upper sleeves and not into their hands. I have yet to see anyone I know do that.


The following are very brief excerpts from a very small part of the FDA Food Code presented here just to give a sense of how federal regulations view the prevention of disease when it comes to food handling. There is much interesting detail in the code and it quite worthwhile to check it out at FDA 2001 Food Code Particularly check Chapters 2, 3 and 4

(A) Raw fruits and vegetables shall be thoroughly washed

(A) Food employees shall wash their hands as specified under § 2-301.12.

(B) food employees may not contact exposed, ready-to-eat food with their bare hands and
shall use suitable utensils such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, single-use gloves, or dispensing
equipment.

A food employee may not use a utensil more than once to taste food that is to be sold or served.

(A) Cloths that are in use for wiping food spills shall be used for no other purpose.

(C) Dry or wet cloths that are used with raw animal foods shall be kept separate from cloths used
for other purposes, and wet cloths used with raw animal foods shall be kept in a separate
sanitizing solution.

Hands and Arms

(A) Except as specified in (B) of this section, food employees shall clean their hands and
exposed portions of their arms (or surrogate prosthetic devices for hands or arms) for at least 20
seconds, using a cleaning compound in a lavatory that is equipped as specified under § 5-202.12.

(Highly detailed description of the required cleaning procedure follows here) …….

(F) During food preparation, as often as necessary to remove soil and contamination and to
prevent cross contamination when changing tasks;

(G) When switching between working with raw food and working with ready-to-eat food;

(H) Before donning gloves for working with food; and

(I) After engaging in other activities that contaminate the hands.