A rich vocabulary has developed to help communicate in the back-of-house. Some are legitimate short-cuts and others are just rude or at least politically incorrect. Do you have some good restaurant or food safety slang that you don’t see here? Send in your contribution to Carolyn Mann. Bubble DancerA disrespectful name for one of the […]
Double Blocked Handsink
Temporary storage trumps handwashing. Waiting for the adjacent storage area to be unlocked, a worker drops off a couple cases. Soon after, seeing the handsink is already blocked, another employee places a container of freshly cut vegetables directly on the handsink.
How Far is Too Far
Yes, we have a handsink. And it is a good one. But its distant location from many key food prep stations minimizes its use. It certainly does little to remind workers to wash their hands.
How to Set, Train and Sustain Handwashing Quality
Without a specification for the Ready-To-Serve Hand®, operators must depend on simulations and common sense. The use of a tracer such as GlitterBug® and a black light provides a visualization of handwashing effectiveness and serve as a demonstration of knowledge. After a thorough handwash and drying with a single-use paper towel, it is unlikely that […]
MarlerClark puts “Handwashing On Trial”
A duel between MarlerClark lawyers was a feature at NEHA’s 2007 annual education conference (National Environmental Health Association). The session title was “Handwashing On Trial”. CasuaLee’s restaurant suffered an outbreak linking back to poor hand hygiene. Plaintiff David Ludwig was represented by Drew Falkenstein and the defense was led by Denis Stearns, defending the owner […]
Water Temperature: Comfort drives compliance.
Today’s quality handsoaps are like the “cold water” laundry products. They are very effective at low wash temperatures, thus protecting our epidermal fabric, the skin. User comfort, guides and encourages frequent handwashing. Some operators and regulators encourage, even demand, handwashing at the top of the comfort range, 110°F. A temperature range of 85-105°F, matched with […]
How to calculate the ROI for a hep A vaccination program amongst foodservice workers.
Vaccination of the foodservice workforce eliminates only 1% of foodborne illness but an estimated 15% of legal cases. The payback of the vaccination program is not only in avoiding litigation when an outbreak occurs but also in the costs of the gamma globulin shots for the exposed customer base. Clark County, Las Vegas, continues expanding […]
Nailbrush: Food Safety’s Friend or Foe?
Fecal-hand-oral is the most frequent pathway for the #1 cause of foodborne illness – norovirus. We also know that the nail area is frequently missed when handwashing. The use of a nailbrush dramatically enhances contaminant removal during handwashing. One common execution in the well-intending professional kitchen is to tether a nailbrush and store it in […]
Does installing auxiliary No-water Handwashing Stations make sense for some locations?
In this practice an alcohol based hand sanitizer dispenser is installed alongside a paper towel dispenser and a waste container. The sanitizer is generously dispensed and rubbed vigorously in a pattern set out in Handwashing For Life’s Core Handwash and demonstrated in the Why/When/How video. While still wet, vigorously dry the hands with a single-use […]
Does the use of a Food Code compliant alcohol hand sanitizer replace a handwash or a non-handwash?
Handwashing with soap and warm water is always the preferred choice but handwashing is often restricted by the food worker’s access to running water. This is particularly true where Ready-To-Eat foods are served at drive-up windows, on street corners, at sporting events, in airport hallways and at outdoor seating venues. The use of these sanitizers […]
