Blog, Food preparation
Food industry – when hands simply must be washed with soap and water
Jun
Dirty, greasy hands? Forget the gels…
There are certain situations when caterers simply must wash their hands with “old fashioned” soap and water – but the cleaning process must be done properly for it to be effective, according to a recent article on the Metro website.
Social media has been “awash” with items relating to good – or more particularly bad – hand hygiene stories of late, wrote Faima Bakar, who had some compelling advice – in particular for those who work in the catering trade, with regard to the gels vs soap and water debate.
The hand cleansing methods have different purposes she indicated: alcohol based sanitisers kill some bacteria, while soap and water remove them. The former can be effective in sterile environments she argues, but everyday circumstances (such as in a catering situation) benefit more from the latter. In short, if your hands are dirty, gels won’t work.
“In the food industry, too, washing hands is recommended as workers may have proteins and other fatty ingredients on their hands, which hand sanitiser isn’t as effective at getting rid of.”
CDC hand washing advice
She quotes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states
“Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of microbes on them in most situations.”
However you clean your hands, says the article, it must be done properly and for a sufficient amount of time. An NHS video is included in the article which displays the recommended soap and water hand washing method.
Twitter is talking about using hand sanitiser over washing with water – but which is better? »
The image (above) show a Teal Super Stallette in use at Burrow Farm Shop in Devon.
Portable soap and water hand wash units for caterers
It is so important to have effective hand washing facilities available at the point of need.
TEAL’s portable sinks are the perfect solution for the food-related and catering industries. The comprehensive range meets the most exacting requirements of any Environmental Health Officer and includes:-
- Mains powered units: The Super Stallette, BigSynk, Hygienius, TEALwash, Variant and Handeman Xtra for mains supply.
- Pre-heated hot water units: The WashStand and the Handeman Xtra Portable.