Tips@Work
The original 2011 mobile tool is preserved as a reading archive. Historical contact details and instructions may be obsolete.
When to Stay Home
Do not come to work if you've been sick with vomiting or diarrhea and until you've been free of these symptoms for 24 hours.
Stay home if you have jaundice (yellowed eyes and skin), or if you've been diagnosed with E. coli 0157:H7, hepatitis A, norovirus or salmonella. All of these illnesses are extremely easy to spread through food, and you could infect customers.
If you are sick with a cough or cold, you can be at work but you should not be near exposed food, clean equipment, dishes, linens or utensils.
Do not touch clean dishes or food with your hands if you have a fever.
If members of your household are sick with diarrhea or vomiting, do not touch clean dishes or food with your hands.
Always tell your manager if you are sick in any way, so he can help you determine what jobs are appropriate for you that day. Safe jobs might be taking out the trash, mopping, sweeping, cleaning restrooms or busing tables.
Guidelines on when to stay home from work or stay away from food at work.
Clean Hands
Hand Sanitizer
- Hand sanitizer is not a replacement for hand washing.
- Alcohol hand sanitizers are ineffective at killing food-contaminating pathogens.
- In a food-handling job, your hands are also likely to be wet, preventing the sanitizer from working as well.
- Hand sanitizer can be used after proper hand washing and drying as extra protection.
Washing
- Wash your hands frequently, especially after using the restroom, coughing or sneezing and when switching from working with raw food to ready-to-eat food.
- Only wash your hands in a hand sink, not a sink that is also used for food preparation, dishwashing or dumping mop buckets.
- After using the restroom, wash and dry your hands at the bathroom sink, use a paper towel to open and close the bathroom door and then wash and thoroughly dry your hands again in the hand washing sink in your work area.
- Keep bathroom doors closed to prevent contamination.
Gloves
- Change disposable gloves when your work is interrupted or when you move to another task, especially when switching from raw foods to ready-to-eat foods.
- Change your gloves if they are torn or contaminated, or about every hour.
- Never wash or reuse gloves.
- Wash your hands before putting gloves on and after taking them off.
- Tell your manager if you have any open or infected wounds so she can help you take precautions against contaminating food.
- Cover any wounds on or near your hands with waterproof bandages and disposable gloves that completely cover the bandages.
Hygiene
- Keep fingernails short so they’re easy to clean.
- Don't wear nail polish or fake nails, as they could chip off and get in food.
- Use clean disposable gloves, tissue, tongs and other utensils to touch ready-to-eat or already-cooked foods.
On the Job
Do not eat, drink or use tobacco near food, dishes, linens, clean equipment or utensils. This could cross-contaminate food.
Jewelry can carry pathogens and fall into food so be sure to take it off before work.
Pull back and cover your hair so it doesn't fall into food and you don't have to adjust it while working. Cover beards and body hair.
Cover street clothes with a clean apron or chef's jacket.
Keep your coat, purse and personal items away from food, dishes, linens and clean equipment.
Leaving personal belongings in food prep and serving areas could cross-contaminate food. Managers should designate a safe space for workers to leave their belongings.
Customer Calls
If a customer calls your restaurant and says he got sick with diarrhea or vomiting after eating there, get the top manager on duty so she can take the customer's name and contact information. The manager should then contact the health department.
Health Departments
Alabama Department of Public Health
Phone : 334-206-5300
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Phone : 907-465-3092
Arizona Department of Health Services
Phone : 602-542-1025
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
Phone : 602-506-6900
Arkansas Department of Health
Phone : 501-280-4364
California Department of Public Health
Phone : 916-558-1784
City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services
Phone : 562-570-4499
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Phone : 888-397-3993
City of Pasadena Public Health Department
Phone : 626-744-6000
San Diego County Health Department
Phone : 858-505-6814
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Phone : 415-252-3800
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Phone : 303-692-2350
Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment
Phone : 303-232-6301
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Phone : 860-509-8000
Delaware Division of Public Health
Phone : 302-744-4700
District of Columbia Department of Health
Phone : 202-442-5955
Florida Department of Health
Phone : 850-245-4250
Miami-Dade County Health Department
Phone : 305-324-2400
Orange County Health Department
Phone : 407-858-1400
Georgia Division of Public Health
Phone : 404-657-2700
Hawaii Department of Health
Phone : 808-586-4400
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
Phone : 208-334-6996
Illinois Department of Public Health
Phone : 217-782-4977
Cook County Department of Public Health
Phone : 708-633-4000
Dupage County Health Department
Phone : 630-682-7400
Macon County Health Department, Decatur
Phone : 217-423-6988
Indiana State Department of Health
Phone : 317-233-1325
Iowa Department of Health
Phone : 515-281-7689
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Phone : 785-296-1500
Kentucky Department for Public Health
Phone : 800-372-2973
Louisiana Department Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health
Phone : 225-342-9500
Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Phone : 207-287-3707
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Phone : 410-767-6500
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Phone : 410-767-6500
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Phone : 617-573-1600
Worcester County Health Department
Phone : 410-632-1100
Michigan Department of Public Health
Phone : 517-373-3740
Wayne County Public Health Department
Phone : 313-224-0286
Minnesota Department of Public Health
Phone : 651-201-5000
Mississippi Department of Health
Phone : 601-576-7400
Missouri Department of Health
Phone : 573-751-6400
Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services
Phone : 406-444-4141
Nebraska Department of Health
Phone : 402-471-3121
Nevada State Health Division
Phone : 775-684-4200
Southern Nevada Health District
Phone : 702-759-1000
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Phone : 603-271-4589
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
Phone : 609-292-7837
New Mexico Department of Health
Phone : 505-827-2613
Bernalillo County Environmental Health Office
Phone : 505-314-0310
New York State Department of Health
Phone : 800-458-1158
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Phone : 212-788-4975
North Carolina Department of Public Health
Phone : 919-707-5000
North Dakota Department of Health
Phone : 701-328-2372
Ohio Department of Health
Phone : 614-995-5599
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Phone : 405-271-5600
Oregon Department of Human Resources
Phone : 971-673-0451
Harney County Health Department
Phone : 541-573-2271
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Phone : 877-724-3258
City of Philadelphia Public Health
Phone : 215-685-7494
Rhode Island Department of Health
Phone : 401-222-5960
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Phone : 888-549-0820
South Dakota Department of Health
Phone : 605-773-3361
Tennessee Department of Health
Phone : 615-741-3111
Texas Department of State Health Services
Phone : 512-458-7111
Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services
Phone : 713-439-6000
Utah Department of Health
Phone : 801-538-6101
Salt Lake Valley Health Department
Phone : 801-468-2750
Vermont Department of Health
Phone : 802-863-7200
Virginia Department of Health
Phone : 804-864-7473
Washington State Department of Health
Phone : 800-525-0127
Public Health - Seattle & King County
Phone : 206-296-4600
West Virginia Bureau of Public Health: Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Phone : 800-423-1271
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Phone : 608-266-1865
Wyoming Department of Health
Phone : 866-571-0944
Deliveries
When food deliveries arrive at your establishment, be sure that nothing is open, leaking, rusted or bulging. Reject anything in damaged containers.
Use a thermometer to check that cold foods are the proper temperature (45 degrees or less for milk and eggs, 41 degrees or less for everything else) and immediately store all cold foods at 41 degrees or cooler.
Frozen foods must arrive frozen.
Hot foods should be 140 degrees or hotter and kept at least that warm. Place the thermometer between two packages of food to get a reading.
Do not stack boxes of delivered food on top of each other. Unseen leaks could cross-contaminate the food. Never reuse those boxes, because they could contaminate the new food you put in them.
Store food only in containers intended for food, not in garbage bags, galvanized garbage cans or containers that held chemicals, including soap. Chemicals could seep into the food from these containers and sicken customers.
Put raw meat, poultry and fish on lower refrigerator shelves so they don't drip onto other foods.
Store foods with higher cooking temperatures such as meat or chicken below foods with lower cooking temperatures like fish.
Temperature
Check the refrigerator with an appliance thermometer to make sure it is 41 degrees or colder.
When keeping food on ice, pack the ice around the container as high as the food inside and check that the food itself is 41 degrees or colder.
Freezers should be zero degrees or colder.
Hazardous Foods
- Hazardous foods need to be kept cooler than 41 degrees or warmer than 140 degrees. This will ensure food is always cold enough or hot enough to keep bacteria from growing.
- Hazardous foods include cut leafy greens, meat, fish, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy products; cooked rice, beans, pasta, potatoes and vegetables; tofu, sprouts, cut melons and garlic or herbs bottled in oil.
- Hazardous foods can be kept at room temperature for as long as two hours while being prepared to eat.
- Prepare small amounts of hazardous food at a time to keep ingredients from sitting out too long.
- If hazardous foods have been out for more than two hours, or if you don't know how long they've been out, throw that food away. It could contain enough bacteria to make people sick.
Cook Food to the Proper Temperatures
-
Beef & Veal
- Ground 160
- Steak and roasts medium 160
- Steak and roasts medium rare 145
-
Chicken & Turkey
- Breasts 165
- Ground, stuffing and casseroles 165
- Whole bird, legs, thighs and wings 165
-
Eggs
- Any type 160
-
Fish & Shellfish
- Any type 145
-
Lamb
- Ground 160
- Steak and roasts medium 160
- Steak and roasts medium rare 145
-
Fruits & Vegetables
- Cooked for hot holding 135
-
Leftovers
- Any type 165
-
Pork
- Chops, fresh (raw) ham, ground, ribs and roasts 160
- Fully cooked ham (to reheat) 140
Insert cooking thermometers into the middle of foods to check that they reach safe cooking temperatures. Clean cooking thermometers between each food you check.
Learn how to use and clean different types of food thermometers and check often to make sure your thermometer reads accurately.
Food cooked or reheated in a microwave should reach 165 degrees. Be sure to test the food's temperature in several spots, because microwaves don't cook food evenly.
Do not reheat food with buffet or soup warmers. They are only designed to keep food at a certain temperature, not safely increase temperature.
Keep lids on food to keep it warm and stir it often to distribute heat.
Never mix cold and hot foods.
The safest way to thaw frozen food is to put it in the refrigerator until it's thawed. Make sure thawing food (especially meat, poultry and fish) is on low shelves where it won't leak onto other food.
Another way to thaw frozen food is to submerge it in running water that is 70 degrees or colder until the food thaws.
Cool cooked foods by surrounding containers with ice up to the level of the food.
To keep bacteria from growing, the food must reach 70 degrees within two hours and 41 degrees within six hours of having been at 140 degrees (the recommended temperature for food in a hot buffet dish).
You can also divide food into shallow pans and place them uncovered on the top shelf of a refrigerator where nothing can drip on them.
Once the food reaches 41 degrees, cover the pans.
Do not reuse ice that was used to cool food or equipment. Putting this ice in food or drinks could make customers sick.
Additional temperature information can be found in the FDA Food Code article 3-401.13 and FSIS fact sheets
Prep & Serving
Always wash your hands after handling raw meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Clean the surface where you prepared these foods with soap and water to remove food particles, then sanitize it with a chemical cleaning spray to kill germs. Both steps are essential for safety.
Use clean dish rags to clean areas where you prepared these foods and don’t reuse the rags.
Prepare raw meat, poultry and fish in a separate area and designate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and fish only.
To avoid cross-contamination, managers should color-code cutting boards for these foods and for ready-to-eat foods that will be served without cooking.
Tell your manager if cutting boards are getting cut up, scratched or stained from use because that is when they should be replaced. Pathogens could live in cracks in the boards and contaminate food.
Make salads and sandwiches with cold ingredients when possible. Cool salads and sandwiches made with room-temperature ingredients to 41 degrees or colder within four hours to keep them safe.
Always serve customers second portions or refills in clean, unused dishes. Never re-serve unpackaged foods like bread sticks or chips. They are not safe for the next customer or you to eat and should be thrown out.
Keep the food prep area free of any objects that could fall into it, such as staples or push pins from bulletin boards or broken glass.
Always look closely at the food you are preparing or serving to be sure nothing has fallen into it.
Chemicals
Use Chemicals Safely
Make sure food is adequately stored or covered when you clean the kitchen to prevent soaps, chemicals and dirt from getting into the food.
To keep germ-spreading cockroaches, mice and other vermin out of the restaurant, put lids on garbage cans, throw out used boxes, cover and store food quickly and clean up spills immediately.
If you have vermin in your restaurant, do not spray pesticides yourself to get rid of them. Contract a professional exterminator to get rid of vermin when all of the food, dishes and utensils are put away and covered.
All chemicals including soaps and sanitizers should be stored away from food or below any counters, shelves or other areas where food might be stored or prepared. Chemicals stored too close to or above food or dishes could leak and make people sick.
Cleaning Cloths
Use separate cleaning cloths for separate uses.
Managers can avoid cross-contamination by color-coding cleaning cloths for food preparation, service, bar operations and toilet sanitation.
Wash at work
- Managers can reduce cross-contamination by installing a washer and dryer to launder cleaning cloths rather than contracting the work outside.
- With a washer and dryer on-site, employees can more frequently change their cleaning cloths and control costs.
- Mark one container, filled with sanitizer solution, “clean” for clean cloths and one filled with detergent and water (to prevent stains) “dirty,” and encourage employees to use a clean rag for every job, or to change rags every 15 minutes.
If reusing cleaning cloths, check the concentration of sanitizer in cleaning cloth containers every four hours, or when the water starts to look cloudy or dirty.
Food particles in dirty water can absorb the sanitizing chemicals, so after a while the solution may not kill germs. Change the solution in the containers when it is no longer at the proper parts per million, or every four hours.
To check the concentration, dip a test strip into the solution, remove it and check the color against the color chart on the strip container.
The recommended parts per million for chlorine is 50 to 100 ppm; for iodine 12.5 to 25 ppm and for quaternary ammonium chlorides (sometimes called quats), 200 ppm.
About
News21 is a national initiative led by 12 of America’s leading research universities with the support of two major foundations – the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation – that emphasizes innovative, hands-on journalism study and practice.
In summer 2011, fellows from five universities worked out of newsrooms at Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism to report on the safety of America's food supply.