FOOD & DRINK
A HANDS-ONOPERATION
Winter is the season for colds, flu and Covid-19, and and infections and viruses can easily be passed from one person to another via the hands. How can the risk of cross-contamination be kept to a minimum in the food preparation environment? Jeremy Bennett from Tork manufacturer Essity poses the question.
It is all too easy to transfer an infection or virus to another person via one’s hands.
Even if we have no direct hand contact with the person in question we might unknowingly contaminate a door handle, light switch or other surface with germs we have picked up from elsewhere. And if someone touches that same surface soon afterwards they could themselves become infected with our illness.
However, hands are a vital tool in any food business. They are pivotal when it comes to preparing ingredients, dressing the diner’s plate and delivering dishes to the customer.
So it is important that all efforts are made to reduce the risk of cross-contamination during preparation and delivery.
The wearing of gloves is considered to be good practice in certain environments such as commercial kitchens, fast food businesses and takeaways. Protective gloves can help to reduce the contamination risk while also reassuring the customer that their food is safe.
However, if the gloves have in any way become damaged or perforated before use they will no longer be effective because bacteria will escape via any hole or tear in the material. And since gloves have a tendency to make the hands warmer and moister than they would have been otherwise, they will be creating an ideal breeding ground for germs.
So it is important that gloves are replaced on a regular basis and that the hands are thoroughly washed before putting them on in the first place.
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One would hardly expect the maître d’ or the waiting staff of a smart restaurant to be wearing latex gloves when greeting guests, pulling out chairs and handing out menus. So there is a genuine risk of cross- contamination here.
However, these risks can be mitigated simply by indicating the table to guests rather than physically pulling out chairs, and by ensuring that laminated menus are already in place at each table. Care should also be taken to wipe these menus down between customers to ensure that they are safe to touch.
Some restaurants allow diners to order via an app or from an online menu. Not only does this reduce the amount of interaction between diners and waiting staff, it also cuts out the need for handling a well-thumbed physical menu.
Once the customer’s app order has been received, a team member will bring it to the table on a tray. During the Covid-19 pandemic it was not uncommon for guests to be asked to pick up their own glasses or plates from a tray for safety. And this practice still makes sense – particularly during the winter when colds, flu and Covid are rife.
Once the food has been delivered, most diners will eat with forks, knives and spoons. These utensils should therefore be thoroughly cleaned before use and handled as little as possible by staff.
However, food items such as bread rolls and sandwiches will inevitably be eaten using the hands, so the provision of hand sanitiser on the tables will help to reassure customers and provide an added level of safety.
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