When entering a restaurant and eventually (hopefully) proceed to the restroom, it’s surprising to read the required and posted health department sign “Employees Must Wash Their Hands”.
The question I have, is what about everybody else with bacteria-ridden hands?
Indeed it can be somewhat calming to believe the prep cook that’s stirring up the special of the day chicken salad by using their hands, had previously washed, but was it due to the reminder of the sign or the person’s good common sense or decency?
To me it’s a no brainer, when hands get soiled or in contact with unsanitary surfaces, the healthy next step is to wash. There is a difference between cleaning and sanitizing.
Clean means visibly, where sanitize means a reduction in pathogens. Both are important exercises and unless you still see the “pink” hand soap in the dispenser, most hand soaps have sanitizer included.
Cleaning to wipe counters, floors and walls can include a solution of vinegar or liquid cleaning soap and water. This is to remove dirt, food and food particles, basically things one can see.
Sanitizing, using a disinfectant are antimicrobial agent applied to a surface of non-living objects with the purpose to destroy microorganisms that are living on the objects.
The responsibility to remove bacteria from one’s hands is everyone’s, but yet the number of individuals I witness racing from a restroom stall to the exit door or sneezing in a hand and not washing is more than one.
If you have the guts or notion to comment to the restroom example, you’ll likely receive a reply of “mind your own business”. Isn’t washing or sanitizing everyone’s business?
So beyond the worker, what about the customer that will not take a few minutes to wash their nasty hands? Let’s look at what can happen.
Bacteria filled hands touching and passing on to handles, chairs, other hands (think handshake), keys, plates, water glasses, so you see the trail that will be passed onto others.
If you pay attention to wash after placing your hands on things, you are taking the first important step to help reduce the spread of disease.
Don’t believe for a moment that bacteria spread is not your problem, be respectful of others by washing with warm water and soap or sanitize a surface to kill bacteria.
In a food manufacturing facility or kitchen where product is eventually sold to the public, sanitary products are required and provided to workers that are in direct contact of food preparation.
The employee is required to do more than just wash hands, but wear hair nets, gloves, mustache or beard nets, aprons or overcoats and in manufacturing wear a special sock over the shoe.
You’ve probably noticed a person of Asian descent, seen wearing a face mask in an environment where no one else is such as outdoors. Fact, the practice began 100 years ago, particularly due to a nasty strain of influenza called the Spanish Flu that spread across the planet. It infected 500 million people globally.
Today masks are worn to prevent others from catching their cold or flu, now that’s being respectful.
The spreading of germs and bacteria is everyone’s concern even for the individuals that don’t find the time to reduce.
Types of soap and disinfectants:
Commercial Bars – contain sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, sodium palmate and similar ingredients, all of which are the results of reacting solid fats (tallow, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil respectively) with lye.
Detergent Bars – in addition to the soaps and fatty acids, some bars will contain cocamidopropyl betaine (a mild amphoteric detergent added to decrease irritation without decreasing suds or cleaning power) and benzine sulfonate detergents such as sodium dodecylbenzinesulfonate. Other detergents such as sodium isethionate and sodium cocoyl isethionateare also common.
Antibacterial soaps – usually contain triclosan or triclocarban as the active antibacterial ingredients.
White vinegar – Acetic acid and can tackle salmonella, E. coli and other “gram-negative” bacteria
Lysol daily cleaner – contains water, salt and Hypochlorous
Method a Natural base cleaner – contain 5% citric acid and 95% inert ingredient
There are many more that are both harsh and gentle while being effective.
Also remember what you use to dry your hands and surfaces can be as important as the cleaning itself.
As for sponges, try to avoid ongoing use as they easily harbor microbes.
Contact Darryl to learn about good sanitation and manufacturing practices. A product recall can be expensive especially when e-coli is discovered in your product.
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