Health and Safety
Task #3
Today in Hospitality before we started preparing our foods we made sure we had made sure we were clean and prepared to start our lesson. The first thing we did was made sure we had nail polish removed if we had them painted and also made sure that under our nails were clean by using the nail brush by doing this we are removing the bacteria and germs the life under our nails. Before we had washed our hands we removed our jewelry to ensure that they don't fall off into our food and transferring bacteria from the jewelry to the food, and before we entered the food room we made sure that our hair was in a bun or in a hair net.
When going to the toilet to blowing your nose to handling money and raw food we would always wash our hands after every use we do this because by washing our hands we are killing off the bacteria on our hands to stop contamination because from the toilet, blowing our nose handling money and raw food there is a lot of bacteria on them so by washing our hands after dealing with that not only prevents you from getting sick but also prevents others from getting sick.
If I get a cut or a wound on my hand we would wear a blue bandaid that my teacher provides to me because by wearing the blue bandaid we are preventing blood dripping or broken skin falling onto the food stopping contamination of the food. We use blue band-aid due to the fact that there is no blue color food so if the band-aid falls off into the dish we can notice it straight away since it stands out and which by using this band-aid it prevents any blood or pathogens from occurring in the dish.
When scratching your face or ear you need to wash your hands straight away or the bacteria from your face and ear will end up either on your food or on the utensils you will use. When touching your hair there could be two things that cause contamination, either the hair falling into the food because it might catch onto your hand or the germs from your hair will go onto or into the food. If you touch your nose and mouth you are spreading lots of germs due to the fact that there are more germs in your mouth and nose than any other part of your body so by washing your hands after you touch your nose and mouth you are preventing lots of germs getting into your food preventing any contamination to occur. If you spit on the food then you will either have to wash the food again or chuck them out and will have to start again.
According to the FDA using clean disposable gloves are more effective than washing your hands for 20 seconds. They state this due to the fact that the gloves are a second barrier between the food and the germs that may still occur in your skin they do still advise to wash your hand before putting on the gloves just in case there is a tiny hole in the glove but to be double cautious washing hands and using disposable gloves is recommended for the health and safety of the workers and the customers.
While handling food we need to ensure that the tongs we are using are clean with no residue left over from the last class or any dust that has gathered over the weekend or the holidays. We do this to prevent any cross-contamination putting the person who eats the dish at risk of getting really sick. So to prevent this from happening we were the tongs in hot soapy water before use then dry it with a clean tea towel then use it to handle our food. If we need to use tongs for chicken and a salad then we make sure we are using two different types of tongs so we don't cross-contaminate causing salmonella.
If we need or want to sample the food we are cooking we need to check if the utensils are clean because we wouldn't want to be getting sick ourselves. So to make sure that we don't get sick ourselves we wash the utensils in hot soapy water like the stated in the last paragraph, this ensures to us that it is safe to use and all the bacteria that might have formed on the spoon/fork we will be using is not there anymore making it safe for us to use to sample the food.
Washing and drying your hands is one of the most important part of health and safety in a food workplace. This is important in this work area because having clean and hygienic hands is not only safe to the workers around you but also the customers that you will be serving. Why is it important to wash your hands in a food workplace? another reason why its important is all the bacteria from opening doors to driving a car or anything that your hands come into contact with will have picked up as many germs as you want but you won't know who has touched it and you also won't know if someone who has the flu that touched the surface you touched, so by washing your hands you are washing away all the pathogens that have gathered upon your hands preventing any further germs getting into the food and causing people to get sick.
Task #4
We have a certain reason why we always clean and sanitize our workspace and equipment before every use and that is to wipe away any bacteria/pathogens or dust that has gathered over break or holidays or any bacteria left by another class. So by ensuring that our work station is sanitized and cleaned we are keeping ourselves safe by preventing any cross-contamination from occurring and making us fall ill
