PERSONAL HYGIENE AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE KITCHEN

As a food handler. One must ensure that the food provided to the customer is free of all of the above mentioned contaminants. Food handler should remember that customer place great trust in them, and carelessness on their part could make customer ill, or at times even lead to death.

Our normal body temperature which is around 37’c is favourable for bacteria to dwell and grow. This is probably the source of most cases of food poisoning, personal should be important to everyone but to a food handler, it is of paramount importance.

The food handler has a normal and legal responsibility of having good Santander of personal hygiene. The bacteria on the human are usually found on hand. Ears, ears , nose, mouth, throat, hair and going, one must wash hand after touching this areas,

Otherwise the pathogen will enter into the food and then with favourable condition the bacteria will grow and multiply and will cause the risk of contamination.

The handlers are the main medium through which bacteria are transferred to food. So one must ensure washing hand:

• when the first entering the kitchen
• when coming back from a break
• after going to the toilet
• after handling raw meat
• before handling cooked meat
• after handling raw vegetable and other dirty foods
• after handling garbage
• after handling clean equipment- mop, buckets, cloth
• after touching or blowing one’s nose
• after touching one’s hair
• after licking one’s finger
• At the regular intervals throughout the day

The above list can be endless. Hands should be washed in a basin meant for hand wash only and never in a sink. Always use hot water to wash hand and clean with germicidal soap. Hands should be cleaned all around and between the fingers also. Use the nail brushes, while cleaning the hands and apply a disinfectant to keep your hand free from gems. One must keep the finger nail short as bacteria might grow in the dirt under nails, nails varnish should not be worn as it may chip and contaminate food.

Not jewellery ( bracelets, watches, earring, etc, )should be allowed in food areas, as the also harbour dirt and bacteria one can wear an importance ring such as a wedding ring on s chain around one’s neck.

• In case of food poisoning it is always advisable to:
• Report ones illness to one’s employer or supervisor;
• Not handle food until given clearance to do so;
• Tell the doctor that one is a food handler;
• Get medical clearance to start work again.

Food safety is governed by strict food safety laws, health inspector can take food samples at random and in case, if all sample fails, prosecution can follow every food establishment is being hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) 3 certified.

The first step is to form a HACCP team. Who shall then identify and ensure that activities of the food business which is the critical to ensuring food safety and ensure that adequate safety procedure are identified, implemented, maintained and reviewed on the basic of the following principles.

• Analysis of the potential food hazards in a food business operation.
• Identification of the points in those operations where food hazards may occur.
• Deciding which of the points identified are critical to ensuring food safety ( critical points)
• Identification and implementation of effective control and monitoring procedure at these critical points,
• Review of the analysis of food hazard the critical control points and the control and monitoring procedures periodically and whenever the food business’s operations change.

UNIFORM AND PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

The uniform for chefs were invented centuries ago; however, these have , been developed and modernized as per the requirement and availability of new fabric. In early time the prime job of the uniform was to make a cook look like a cook, but today the uniform are designed keeping in mind that these keep the worker safe,  as they all operate  in a potentially dangerous environment with lots of sophisticated  machinery and tools around. Most people take the first chef’s uniform for granted, but there are good reasons for each piece of clothing these are the discussed below.

Chef jackets

Intense heat from stove and ovens is also fire resistance.

The white colour of the jacket repels heat and thus keeps the worker comfortable. Also white uniform will get soiled quickly and a cook would have to change it. Since personal hygiene is very important in the kitchen. The jacket is always double breasted as the thickness in the cloth will prevent the chef from being scalded by hot liquids or spattering hot oil and thermal shocks as the chef constantly shuttle between the cold storage areas and the hot kitchen areas. Since there are two rows of buttons, the chef can rebutton the double breasted jacket to change the sides whenever a side gets soiled during the course of work during a shift.

Chef’s trouser

Chef wears either black pants or black and white checked pants. The traditional check-erred pants were so designed to camouflage spills and the colour of the pants in some organizations also denotes the seniority of the chef. A black pant usually worn by sou’s chef and other senior chefs, while cooking and apprentices would wear checkered pants. Just like the coats, kitchen pants are the designed to provide comfort and protection. The kitchen pants should be straight and without cuffs, which can trap debris and any hot liquid spills. It is advisable to have snapped fly and elastic waist band in the kitchen trousers should be worn without a belt, so that it can be removed easy in can of hot liquid spills or even fire.

Chef’s hat

The most interesting part of the uniform is the tall white hat, called toque blanc. The toque dates back to mid-seventh century BC. Cooks during that time were required to wear hats similar to those worn by royalty of the time so that is resembled the crown and segregated them from the common people. The main purpose of the hat is to prevent hair from falling into the food and also help absorbing sweat. Along with the other conveniences, disposable paper hat were invented to look like the cloth so that they can be thrown away then they are soiled.

Scarf /neckerchief

Chefs wear white neckerchiefs, which are knotted in the front. These were the originally designed to absorb perspiration. Nowadays, chef wears the neckerchiefs to keep the traditional and finish the look of their uniforms, in some cases scarves are used to presentation various level in a kitchen hierarchical grid.

Apron

It is usually made of thick cotton fabric and is worn around the waist with the help of along strings. The apron should reach below the knees to protect the chefs from spilling hot liquid. The string of the aprons helps hold the chef’s kitchen towel in place the loose sends of the same should be tucket under or else they can be trapped in machinery and can use the accidents.

Kitchen towel/duster

They are used to pickup up hot pots and pans and also to wipe hands in order to keep them dry. Usually two dusters should be kept with the chef – one to wipe the wet hands. In the order (dry one), to pickup hot pans. As a wet duster can scorch the hands. Considering the modern hygiene trends. It is available to use disposable paper towels for wiping and cleaning. The kitchen duster should be used only for handling hot equipments.

Shoes

The hoes be black and well polished. To prevent slipping, the sole should be made of rubber. Black cotton socks preferably the sweat absorbing cotton variety should be worn. The shoes should be closed, to prevent the feet from scorching in case of spills. The shoes have to be comfortable, as we know that cook will have to stand for long hours.