Right from our early years, we have received trainings and instructions on how to maintain proper food hygiene. But recently, I noticed that many food handlers, especially those serving in restaurants and hotels seem to have neglected this fact.
• Most of them talk when cooking and/or serving food, thereby releasing scores of bacteria and other living organisms from their mouth into the food. Some of these bacteria mat not be harmful to the person bearing them in their mouth, but when they get into another person’s food, take for instance someone with a weak immune system, or someone whose body reacts to the surface proteins of such bacteria, they may develop into harmful agents in such a person’s body.
• Some food handlers even leave their hair open when serving food, thereby transferring dirt and small living organisms into the food. We seem to have forgotten the dangers of improper food handling practices and this baffles me. I hope you have also come across some of these things I’m talking about. Does it baffle you too?
This is the reason why I am of the opinion that we enlighten and educate these people on the importance of proper food handling (especially talking when serving). They need to be made to understand that they hold the precious lives of their customers in their hands. They need to be aware that the reputation of their business needs to be guarded jealously.
Someone might say “I don’t eat outside, so why should I bother?” Well, I was once like that too (I would not even dare eat out for whatever reason). But due to the nature of my job, I recently had no option but to eat out once in a while and that is what made me to notice these kinds of practices; you may also find yourself in such a situation one day.
Besides, we all have relatives, some of who eat out regularly; either we like it or not, if they happen to contact any food-borne disease as a result of improper food handling, we may have to be the ones to care for them or foot their hospital bills directly or indirectly.
As a person who handles food – whether you are a kitchen hand, a food process worker, a shop assistant or a waiter – you have an important responsibility to handle food safely. This is important so as to:
• protect other people from getting sick
• protect your reputation in the food industry
• protect your business, and
• protect your job.
Please don’t keep quiet, let us speak out with one voice and help protect our generation.
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