Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

• Employees should consume their meals only in designated dining areas.
• Personal belongings should be kept out of food preparation and service areas and stored
in lockers located outside the food service department.
• Only authorized persons should enter the kitchen. Once entering the kitchen, they need
to cover their hair with a hair cover.
• All cuts should be bandaged with waterproof protectors, and employees with cuts on
their hands should wear watertight disposable gloves.
• The food service department must implement and enforce procedures for ensuring that
employees are protected against on-the-job injuries or diseases that could result in food contamination.
Employees with open lesions, infected wounds, sore throats, or communicable diseases
should not be permitted to work in food preparation and service areas. The facility’s
designated physician should clear an employee known to have suffered a respiratory tract infection
before being allowed to return to work.
• A tuberculin (purified protein derivative) skin test should be used to screen employees
for tuberculosis on a yearly basis if required by the local health department or health care
organization.
• There is no scientific evidence that AIDS or HIV infection can be transmitted through
food. It cannot be spread through casual contact that occurs between employees or customers
or through contaminated food. Managers should know the legal ramifications of firing or
transferring an employee who has AIDS or an employee who has tested HIV positive from the
food service department simply because the individual handles food. AIDS is covered by the
Americans with Disabilities Act, which provides civil rights protection to infected employees.
Environmental Sanitation
Food Safety, Sanitation, and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
A clean working environment is vital to good sanitation practices. Whether it is part of a new
suburban facility or an older inner-city hospital, every food service department can meet basic
standards of cleanliness through careful planning and management. Modern food service
equipment, materials, and furnishings should be designed to be cleaned easily with hot water,
detergents, and sanitizing agents. Floors should be constructed of materials that resist absorption
of grease and moisture. Good sanitation also depends on having an adequate number of
conveniently located sinks and floor drains to facilitate washing. Walls, ceilings, and ventilation
equipment should be designed and constructed to accommodate frequent, thorough cleaning.
Sanitation is a must for any surface that comes in contact with food, which includes all
dishes, utensils, pots, and pans.
Sanitary features should be a major consideration in the purchase and placement of new
equipment, which should be installed so that soil, food particles, and other debris that collect
between pieces of equipment and surrounding walls and floors can be removed easily. Equipment
cleaning must be scheduled regularly to prevent accumulation of dirt and spilled food, which in
turn reduces the possibility of contamination of food by microorganisms and helps in pest control.
High standards of environmental sanitation can be maintained in both modern and older
facilities by meeting certain basic requirements. Some are listed below:
• All work and storage areas are kept clean, dry, well lighted, and in good order.
• Overhead pipes have either been removed or are covered by a false ceiling. Because they
collect dust and might leak, such pipes are a hazard in food preparation areas and could lead to
food contamination. (State and local sanitation and building codes should be complied with.)
• The walls, floors, and ceilings in all areas should be cleaned routinely.
• Ventilation hoods prevent grease buildup and moisture condensation, which can collect
on walls and ceilings and drip into food or onto food preparation areas. Filters and other
grease-extracting equipment are removed regularly for cleaning or replaced if they were not
designed for easy cleaning in place.
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