Cleanliness is Next to Food Safety

by Shari L. Plimpton, Ph.D.
June 2004

Cleanliness is next to food safety and minimizing your risks. I can’t think of any topic where this more appropriate than when it is applied to worker sanitation and hygiene. If this sounds serious, it is. Of all of the Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) you need to monitor this one ranks up there with water quality as a most likely source of fresh produce contamination.

Workers are often the last people to touch fresh produce before it reaches the consumer. Anything a worker touches can be transferred to the surface of produce and eventually to the consumer. Workers can carry disease, come in contact with microorganisms via diseased produce or dirty surfaces, or carry non-food grade chemicals on their hands or clothing. For these simple reasons, growers need to be concerned about the health, hygienic practices and training of workers both in the field and in the packinghouse.

Your attitude toward worker health and hygiene makes all of the difference. Growers, supervisors and foremen need to set the example. Start off with hand washing. Expect and encourage thorough hand washing after using toilet facilities, eating, smoking and any other activity that brings hands in contact with potential contaminants.

Thorough hand washing ideally means using warm water, liquid soap from a dispenser, a full 20 seconds of rubbing your hands together, and single use towels. Mechanically working the soap into your hands, including cleaning around nails, wrists and in between fingers for 20 seconds, will reduce infection by 35 to 50 percent, and gastrointestinal illness by 80 percent.

If you haven’t already heard, 20 seconds can be counted off by singing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ twice through, or by singing the alphabet song. Singing out loud is recommended only for those who have nice voices, and/or are particularly immune to snickering, ridicule and horrified stares.

Another way growers influence workers’ hygienic practices is by providing clean, well-maintained toilet facilities for workers. Inadequate facilities or worse, poorly maintained facilities significantly increases your risk for produce contamination. Failure to provide adequate and clean facilities also sends the wrong message to workers about your commitment to food safety.

Worker education is a critical part of reducing the risk for produce contamination. Encourage workers to report health problems, and have alternative work available for those who are sick and could come in contact with the produce in the field. Some workers will be tempted to hide their illnesses if they know they will lose a day’s pay. Also, provide bandages, clean gloves, hairnets, and aprons when appropriate.

In the packinghouse, cleaning and sanitation are critical to reducing the risk of contamination. Taking the time to train workers regarding their own hygiene should be accompanied by training them on maintaining sanitary surfaces and performing proper cleaning and sanitation of packing lines when the line is done for the day.

By all means impress upon workers the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of conveyor belts, packing surfaces, tables, carts, and any other surface the produce may contact. Everybody in the packinghouse should be thinking of those surfaces as they would the plates on their tables. Not too many of us would use a bowl for apples or strawberries that had contained dirty bolts, gloves, or towels without washing it first. Packing line surfaces shouldn’t be used to store those things, nor for siting or standing.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again; training and education are our most powerful tools for preventing contamination from workers. Training doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated either. Growers who have attended GAPs training sessions or have had on farm consultations have enough information to take a half-hour and share this information with workers. Documenting the names of the workers you have trained also demonstrates your commitment to food safety.

Worker training videos and DVDs are available for Ohio growers via the Ohio Specialty Crop Food Safety being cooperatively managed by Mid American Ag and Hort Services (MAAHS), the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT) and Ohio State University Extension ABE Center in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency. Supervisory emphasis on sanitary worker practices and the use of posters as reminders help to reinforce food safety training. Posters about proper hand washing and using field facilities are also available for Ohio growers by contacting MAAHS.

Consultation for GAPs, developing food safety programs, and passing third party audits is available through CIFT. You can reach us by calling Shari L. Plimpton at 614-314-4627 or emailing us at foodsafety@eisc.org.

Good Agricultural Practices Articles...

• ABCs of GAPs

• Cleanliness is Next to Food Safety

• The Distant Sound of Drumming

• The Efficient Use of Chlorine and Other Sanitizers in Postharvest Fruit and Vegetable Operations

• The Elements of Produce Food Safety Programs

• GAPs in Organics: Fresh Produce Safety from Pre-planting through Production

• Handling Your Food Safety Risks

• Its Not All in the Bag

• Passing a Third Party Food Safety Audit

• Pest Patrol for Fruit and Vegetable Growers

• Planning for Prevention: Fresh Produce Safety from Pre-planting through Production

• So, Just How Clean is Your Water

• Sustaining Healthy Soil

• The Value of a Food Safety Plan

• Water, Water Everywhere

• Worker Hygiene Keeps Produce Clean