Kitchen and Personal Hygiene

Hygiene is the science of health and keeping well.

Personal Hygiene has to do with the health and cleanliness of a person. It is important to practice
good personal hygiene because bad habits can cause illness and infection.

Kitchen hygiene is about the preparation, cooking and storage of food in a clean and safe
environment.

Personal Hygiene Rules

1. Wear clean and comfortable clothes and shoes
2. Wear a clean apron
3. Keep finger nails short and clean.
4. Always wear a hair net or scarf over your head.
5. Do not cough or sneeze over food.
6. Cover cuts and bruises with water-proof dressing.
7. Wash your hands before and after handling food and after visiting the bathroom.
8. Bathe Regularly.
9. Do not taste with the cooking spoon.

Kitchen Hygiene Rules

1. Wash kitchen towels and dishcloths regularly.
2. Use Kitchen towel for drying dishes only.
3. Whenever possible wash dishes with hot soapy water.
4. Store garbage in covered bins and remove from the kitchen daily.
5. Keep all food covered from pests.
6. Clean floors daily and keep pets out of the kitchen.
7. Use color coded cutting boards to avoid cross contamination.
8. Keep Food preparation surfaces clean at all times.
9. Wipe up spills immediately.
Color coded cutting board system.
One of the most common causes of food poisoning) is something called cross-contamination, or
the transfer of harmful bacteria from one food product to another by way of contaminated tools,
equipment, or hands.
In many cases of cross-contamination, cutting boards are a prime culprit. For that reason, using
separate, color-coded cutting boards for different ingredients is a great way of preventing cross-
contamination.

Cleaning, Sanitizing and Disinfecting

Cleaning a surface simply removes visible debris, dirt and dust. Sanitizing a surface makes that
surface sanitary or free of visible dirt contaminants that could affect your health. Sanitizing is
meant to reduce, not kill, the occurrence and growth of bacteria, viruses and fungi. Disinfecting a
surface will “kill” the microscopic organisms as claimed on the label of a particular product.

Clean low-risk surfaces, such as floors, windows, etc., where the likelihood of pathogen transfer
from the surface is low. Sanitizing should only be applied to food contact surfaces, which is
required as part of the food code. Disinfection is appropriate for frequently touched surfaces and
surfaces likely to harbor pathogens. Since sanitizing does not make anti-viral claims, sanitizing
offers no confidence of killing the flu or other viruses commonly found on surfaces.