Good Retail Practices for Retail Meat Operation Programs

Hygiene Training Program

Communicable Diseases

A written statement of policy should be given to all staff advising them that they have a responsibility to inform a supervisor of a communicable disease which can be transmitted through food. Employees should also be told to exercise caution if they share a residence with individuals who are known to have a communicable disease.

Retail management should make every effort to ensure personnel who handle food or are working near food contact surfaces are free from communicable disease or symptoms of illness such as frequent sneezing or coughing, diarrhoea, jaundice, vomiting, or sore throat with fever. If individuals become ill they must be sent home or be reassigned to other responsibilities which do not involve food handling.

In the case of a reportable communicable disease diagnosed by a physician, employees should bring a doctors note upon return to work which states their readiness to resume activities.

Any product potentially contaminated by personnel with transmissible illness must be destroyed and work surfaces cleaned and sanitized.

Cuts and Sores

Management should advise all employees working in food production areas to protect food in the presence of cuts or sores.

If an individual has an open or infected sore on the hands and wrists, it must be covered by a dry impermeable bandage and a single-use glove or the person must not engage in food related activities. The glove must be checked regularly to ensure it is not punctured or torn and replaced when required.

If the affected portion is on the arms it must also be covered with a dry impermeable bandage and any other location must be protected by a dry, tight fitting bandage.

Personnel should be advised to exercise extreme caution not to touch sores or cuts and to wash their hands thoroughly if changing bandages.

Any product potentially contaminated by personnel with cuts or sores must be destroyed and work surfaces cleaned and sanitized.

Personnel Hygiene  

Individuals handling food must wash their hands immediately following sneezing, using the washroom, following coffee/lunch breaks, or touching their eyes, hair, mouth, nose, or any unclean surface.

Food handlers should remove their watches, rings and any jewellery, before working with food as it may become detached and create a physical hazard in food.

Food personnel must wear clean outer garments, hair nets and, if applicable, beard nets. Aprons should be changed or cleaned when dirty or at minimum once daily.

If an individual working in an area with raw meat enters another portion of the operation such as the deli containing cooked products, they must change their apron and wash their hands before entering.

Smoking, eating, or chewing tobacco or gum must not be permitted in food preparation areas.

Gloves should be inspected on a periodic basis and replaced if punctures, cuts, or tears are found. To ensure glove condition is satisfactory, they should be replaced on a regular basis. Due to the risk of latex allergies in food, a non-latex glove should be utilized when possible.

Hand Washing

Hand washing procedures involve rubbing hands with soap for at least 20 seconds followed by rinsing with hot water. Special attention should be given to the area under fingernails which may be more difficult to clean. Care must be taken to avoid harsh soaps which may injure hands and promote the growth of undesirable bacteria.

Hand washing signs should be posted above hand washing stations and in bathrooms.

Visitors

Visitors should generally be kept away from food preparation areas and, when present, must be made to follow the same procedures and policies as employees and be accompanied at all times.

In some cases visiting personnel such as those from rendering companies represent a potential hazard and should not be permitted in food preparation areas.

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