The last thing you want is for your customers to remember your business because you gave them the trots. One of the best ways of preventing harmful foodborne bugs from getting onto your customers’ plates is ensuring everyone practices good hand hygiene.

Most importantly, ensure everyone washes their hands well using plenty of water and soap and cleaning under the fingernails before thoroughly drying with a single-use cloth or paper towel, especially:

· before touching unwrapped ready-to-eat foods

· after touching raw meat

· before putting on and after removing gloves

· after coughing or sneezing

· after using the toilet.

By keeping nails short and not wearing rings, you eliminate some of the places that bugs like to hide.

Make sure all staff know gloves aren’t a shortcut to good hand hygiene because – just like hands – they can transfer bugs from raw food, equipment, utensils and surfaces onto ready-to-eat food. So just as you would wash your hands after dealing with uncooked food and before moving onto ready-to-eat food, you should change your gloves. Remember to wash and dry your hands before putting on a new pair.

Use hand sanitisers with care. While they can be used to quickly sanitise your hands, for example after taking money from a customer and before serving their food, they aren’t effective without hand washing in other situations such as when hands are greasy.

Good hand hygiene isn’t rocket science: follow the guidelines and you’ll keep your customers happy and healthy.

For further information go to www.nzfsa.govt.nz