Superior culinary hygiene demands food safety throughout the supply chain: from production, distribution, storage, preparation and finally
consumption. Seven years ago, the Port Health Unit of the Ministry of Public Health adopted a robust campaign to ensure that all meals
offered at our main port of entry, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), meet high global standards.
Globally, 80 percent of deaths are blamed on unsafe food and food-borne diseases. While these remain significant public health problems, they also impede socio-economic growth and development by putting a severe strain on health-care systems and harming national economies,
tourism and trade along the way.
According to PAHO/WHO statistics, diarrhoea remains the most common disease linked to food in the Region of the Americas, but Noro-virus, Campylobacter, E. coli and non-typhoid salmonella are the most important food-safety concerns in the area. Guyana has, so far, avoided the
curse through the Ministry of Public Health’s free annual, compulsory training and certification of food handlers vending at the popular
CJIA.
Health officers stationed at our ports of entry act as the country’s strongest line of defence against food-borne diseases, said Ms. Bonita McDonald, Port Health Officer (PHO) at the CJIA. “We perform a vitally important service to the consuming public, but the results of safety lie with the food
handlers and suppliers,” McDonald explained during a recent interview at the Food Handlers Workshop at the CJIA. Maintaining Adequate Personal Hygiene and Tidiness According to McDonald, food safety consciousness is linked to personal hygiene. She said that the human body
and clothing can be major carriers of micro-organisms, thus food handlers must, at all times, maintain good hygiene and wear freshly-laundered
outfits. “If we don’t do basic things like brushing our teeth, showering and practising tidiness, we will contaminate the food, then the customer will have a contaminated product. We want to be selling a safe product to the customers, in this case, to our departing and arriving travelers,” she said.
She reminded participants that food handlers must be free from all contagious diseases. “Food handlers should be free from any rash, boils or infected cuts and free from any unusual discharge from the ear, eye or nose,” the PHO official said. While wearing hair restrain hats or
aprons is vital when preparing and serving food, McDonald also cautioned against the age old practice of leaving the food-preparation site while still wearing the apron. “Sometimes food handlers leave the preparation area to go empty the bin with their apron still tied to their waists.
This practice can result in contamination of food at its preparation stage,” she cautioned.
She also said that wearing jewellery while handling food “is strictly prohibited” under the United States, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and that of the International Health Regulations (IHR). According to the FDA, food handlers must remove all unsecured jewellery and other objects that might fall into foods. They must also remove hand jewellery that cannot be adequately sanitised during periods in which food is being manipulated by hand. “Jewellery is a carrier of germs. That is why the law forbids food handlers from wearing any form, especially wedding bands,” McDonald explained. Under international rules too, food safety guidelines also require handlers to avoid handling money while handling
food. Chewing gum, smoking in the food-preparation area, eating and spitting in restricted areas and coughing or sneezing over food is also forbidden while operating in a food establishment. Appropriate hand hygiene is also important for food preparers. Regular cleaning and trimming
of their fingernails is required, because these can hide dirt and germs and contribute to the spread of some infections, such as pinworms.
“Our finger nails are major carriers of germs (and) we ought to keep these short and clean at all times,” McDonald said.
Hand washing technique Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps food handlers can take to
avoid contamination of food. “Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap and apply soap. Lather your hands by
rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. Scrub your hands for at
least 20 seconds then rinse and pat dry with paper towel,” McDonald said while outlining the hand washing technique.
Food handlers are reminded to wash their hands after: using the washroom, touching parts of their bodies, sneezing, coughing or using a tissue,
smoking, chewing tobacco or gum. They are also required to wash their hands thoroughly after taking out the garbage, handling dirty dishes and after handling raw foods. Food safety guidelines also require that food handlers wash their hands before handling ‘ready-to-eat foods’,
before and after caring for someone who is sick and similarly for treating a cut or wound.
Gloves can be worn for a maximum of two hours whilecompleting a specific task uninterrupted.
Food and Chemical Hazards According to the WHO, foods are safe when they do not contain dangerous microbes (bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi), chemicals (allergens, waste from veterinary drugs, agrochemicals or toxins) or foreign bodies (soil, hair, insects, etc.) that are a danger
to our human health. Processed foods can also be contaminated if handlers do not follow correct procedures.
“Chemical contamination in food can result in death. Chemicals must be stored away from food, both raw and cooked,” McDonald
noted. Though keeping in line with food handling requirements does present its challenges, McDonald shared that she enjoys immense
job satisfaction since she is able to garner much support from food providers.
“I have never had to initiate enforcement actions because the food handlers have been compliant on the first or second 
warning,” she said.
