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4.3.2.4 Hands of food handlers
People can also be a source of cross-contamination to foods. Some examples are: handling foods after visiting the toilet without properly hand washing; touching raw
meats and then preparing vegetables without washing hands between tasks using an apron to wipe your hands between handling different foods, or wiping a counter with a
towel and then using it to dry your hands. In this study, fecal coliforms were found in hands of personnel from outlets I and
II. Between the two outlets, RTE food outlet I had significantly high fecal contamination compared to outlet II. There was no fecal contamination from the personnel from which
the sample was taken from in outlet III. Fecal coliforms in hands of food handlers those preparing ready-to-eat foods
would have been the result of not washing the hands well after using the latrines. It could also have been cross-contamination by touching contaminated surfaces where
animal droppings may have been without noticing; using of contaminated water to wash hands would be a possibility as well.
A study carried out by Ayçiçek et al 2003 in hands of hospital food handlers that 14 out of 180 hand samples were contaminated with E.coli which belongs to the
group of fecal coliforms. With this findings it was concluded that poor hand hygiene was the major cause and all inexperienced employees would not be employed in the
kitchen or be trained in the proper codes of hygiene and sanitation practices. Another study Sobel et al 1998 detected fecal coliforms from hands of street vendors;
Hand washing is generally considered to be the most important way to stop the spread of infection. Hands must be washed before handling food, after blowing your
nose or touching your body, after using the toilet, after smoking and after handling raw food. Washing of the hands recommends the use of food grade hand sanitizers which
come in bar forms or liquid forms, such as alcohol-based sanitizers.
4.4 Comparison of coliforms and hygiene and sanitation conditions
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