Employee hygiene and behavior

50 basis for risk management efforts in both home and food service kitchens Chen et al., 2001.

4.2 Hygiene and sanitation conditions

In ready-to-eat food outlets, hygiene and sanitation are of vital importance. Clean and presentable work and eating spaces are not only pleasing and attracting for persons being served, but importantly also is the safety against microorganisms that cause foodborne illnesses like salmonellosis. Generally, hygiene and sanitation inspections re carried out to evaluate how conditions of the outlets. A poor hygiene and poor sanitation status usually results in microbial loads being high. One of the organism normally used as an indicator for hygiene and sanitation conditions of food outlets is the coliform group of organism.

4.2.1 Employee hygiene and behavior

Employee hygiene and sanitation is generally how clean and presentable the foodhandlers are trimmed nails, clean clothes and neat hair are some attributes; their behaviors in the ready-to-eat food outlets not eating whilst working or scratching the head are some attributes. From the inspection carried out, outlet III had the best employee hygiene and behavior with a rank of . Both Outlets I and II ranked resulting from scoring criteria of serious meaning that some of the things observed with the employees of the ready-to-eat food outlets needed serious attention for change Figure 8. From both outlets such behaviors like eating and not washing the hands before standing up to serve customers; smoking whilst preparing food, and scratching the skin should be avoided. Improper handling and improper hygiene might lead to the contamination of ready-to-eat food and this might eventually affects the health of the consumers Dunn et al ., 1995; Adebolu and Ifesan, 2001; Omemu and Bankole, 2005; Okonko et al., 2008. Employees suffering from disease symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, coughing, or sneezing--or even individuals suspected to be suffering from or to be carriers of a disease or illness that can readily be transmitted through food--should not be allowed to enter any food-handling area and should report illness or related symptoms to management Codex Alimentarius, 1997; 51 Lorenzini, 1995; Republic of South Africa, 1999; South African Bureau of Standards, 2001. During the acute stages of diseases such as gasteroenteritis large numbers of organisms are excreted and can be widely dispersed Bannister, Begg, Gillespie, 2000. Food handlers who are symptomatically ill, therefore, present a serious health hazard and should be excluded from work. Such individuals should furthermore be made aware of the need to immediately report illnesses and should be assured that if exclusion is necessary it will not result in loss of employment or wages. Medical examination of a food handler should be carried out if clinically or epidemiologically indicated Codex Alimentarius, 1997, and a certificate by a medical practitioner should be submitted, stating whether such person is fit to handle food Republic of South Africa, 1999. Employee behavior and sanitation play an important role to reduce or increase microbial contaminations. Figure 8. Scores of employee hygiene and behavior based on hygiene and sanitation inspection.

4.2.2 Building and facility design and plan