food hygiene simply food safety, cooking at home, restaurant or wherever, its start with safety of the hands.

Hygiene requirements for your business

Every person working in a food-handling area must maintain a high level of personal hygiene.

Staff must wear clothing that is:

• suitable
• clean
• protective

When staff are preparing or handling food they should:

• keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering, e.g. hat or hair net
• not wear watches or jewellery (except a wedding band)
• not touch their face and hair, smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum

Handwashing

Washing is important to help prevent harmful bacteria from spreading from peoples’ hands. All staff that work with food must wash their hands:

• when in the kitchen or preparation area
• before preparing food
• after touching raw food
• after handling food waste or emptying a bin
• after cleaning
• after blowing their nose
• after touching phones, light switches, door handles and cash registers

Staff should dry their hands on a disposable towel. This is because harmful bacteria can spread on wet or damp hands

For more information visit http://www.food.gov.uk