Personal Hygiene for Food Handlers
Wash your hands at the right moments, use gloves correctly, and know when illness keeps you out of the kitchen.
Table of contents
Food workers are the most common way that viruses such as norovirus get into food. In a CDC review of outbreaks at retail food businesses from 2017 to 2019, contamination by an ill or infectious worker played a part in about 40 percent of the outbreaks with a known cause. Good hygiene is one of the few food safety controls that depends entirely on you.
The figures here come from the FDA Food Code, using the 2026 edition. The Food Code is a model. Your state or local code is the law where you work, and it may be stricter or based on an older edition.
What You Will Be Able to Do
- Wash your hands correctly and name when you must wash.
- Use single-use gloves without spreading germs.
- Dress for food work, including hair, nails and jewelry.
- Know which symptoms and illnesses you must report, and why.
- Deal with cuts, burns and sores safely.
Washing Your Hands
Clean your hands and exposed arms for at least 20 seconds in total, in a sink meant for handwashing. Do not use a prep sink or a dish sink.
- Rinse under clean, running warm water.
- Apply soap.
- Scrub vigorously for at least 10 to 15 seconds. Clean under your fingernails, your fingertips, between your fingers, and the backs of your hands and arms.
- Rinse thoroughly under running warm water.
- Dry with a single-use paper towel or a hand dryer.
- Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door if needed, so that you don't dirty your clean hands.
The sink must supply water at a set minimum temperature. The 2022 and 2026 Food Codes set it at 85°F (29.4°C). Earlier editions used 100°F (38°C), and many training materials and local codes still do. Warm, soapy water and friction do the real work. If your hand sink has no soap, towels or warm water, tell your manager right away.
Hand sanitizer does not replace handwashing. It can be used after washing if your workplace allows it, but it doesn't work well on greasy or dirty hands, and it doesn't work on some germs such as norovirus as well as washing does.
When to Wash
Wash right before you start working with exposed food, clean equipment and utensils, or unwrapped single-use items. Wash again after each of these:
- Using the toilet
- Touching your hair, face or body
- Coughing, sneezing, or using a tissue
- Eating, drinking or using tobacco or a vape
- Handling raw meat, poultry or seafood
- Handling dirty dishes, trash or chemicals
- Touching a phone, cash or a card reader
- Taking a break
- Caring for or touching a service animal
- Switching between raw and ready-to-eat food
- Any other activity that could contaminate your hands
Using Gloves Correctly
Gloves protect food from your hands, and they only work if your hands are clean first. Under the Food Code, food workers may not touch exposed ready-to-eat food with bare hands, so gloves or utensils are needed for salads, sandwiches, garnishes and similar foods. Some jurisdictions have different rules.
- Wash your hands before putting on gloves.
- Choose the right size. Loose gloves slip, and tight gloves tear.
- Use each pair for one task only.
- Change gloves when they tear or get dirty, when you change tasks, and after touching anything else.
- Throw used gloves away. Do not wash or reuse them.
Under the 2026 Food Code, a worker may keep on an inner single-use glove under a task-specific outer glove only under certain conditions, and if the local regulator has approved it. Don't double-glove unless your workplace has a procedure for it. Some workers have latex allergies, and latex can also affect sensitive guests, so many kitchens use other materials.
Dressing for Food Work
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Clothing | Clean outer clothing at the start of a shift. Change if it gets dirty. Take off aprons when you use the restroom or take out the trash |
| Hair | Wear a hat, hair covering or net, and a beard restraint where required |
| Fingernails | Keep them trimmed, filed and clean. No polish or artificial nails with exposed food, unless you wear intact gloves |
| Jewelry | None on your hands and arms while preparing food, except a plain ring such as a wedding band. A medically necessary device may be allowed |
| Personal items | Keep phones, bags and medicine away from food and prep areas |
Jewelry and nails hold germs and can fall into food. Rings with stones are hard to clean. Medical alert bracelets and similar devices may be allowed if they can be kept clean and don't risk contaminating food. Talk with your manager.
Eating, Drinking, and Smoking
Eat, drink, smoke, vape and chew only in designated areas where food and clean equipment can't be contaminated. A worker may drink from a closed container if it's handled so that it doesn't contaminate hands, food or equipment. Store it away from food and prep surfaces. Your local code may have specifics. Wash your hands before going back to work.
Never taste food with a finger or with a spoon that goes back into the pot. Use a clean utensil for each taste.
Reporting Illness
You must tell your manager if you have any of these symptoms or diagnoses. Under the 2026 Food Code, a food business must have a written employee illness policy that covers them.
Symptoms to report:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Jaundice (yellow skin or eyes)
- Sore throat with fever
- An infected wound or boil that isn't properly covered
Illnesses to report (the "Big 6"):
| Illness | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Norovirus | Spreads very easily. It is the most common cause of foodborne outbreaks |
| Hepatitis A | A liver infection spread by hands, and workers can be contagious before symptoms show |
| Shigella | Very small amounts cause illness |
| Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (such as O157:H7) | Can cause kidney failure |
| Salmonella Typhi | Causes typhoid fever |
| Nontyphoidal Salmonella | Common and spread by hands and food |
Older materials refer to the "Big 5". Nontyphoidal Salmonella was added later, which is why the list is now commonly called the Big 6. Listeria is a serious germ, but it isn't on this list. It usually gets into food from the environment, not from the hands of sick workers.
You must also report if you have been exposed to one of these illnesses in certain situations, such as a household member with a confirmed case or a confirmed outbreak linked to an event you attended. Your manager will tell you what your workplace needs.
Exclusion and Restriction
- Excluded means you may not be in the food business at all.
- Restricted means you can be at work but cannot handle exposed food, clean equipment, or clean utensils and linens.
| Situation | Typical outcome under the Food Code |
|---|---|
| Vomiting or diarrhea | Excluded. May return after at least 24 hours with no symptoms, or with a practitioner's note that the cause isn't infectious |
| Jaundice that started in the last 7 days | Excluded. The local regulator must be told. Return needs clearance |
| Hepatitis A diagnosis | Excluded. Return needs regulator approval, plus a time limit or medical documentation, as the Food Code sets out |
| Typhoid fever diagnosis | Excluded. Return needs medical clearance and approval |
| Norovirus, Shigella, E. coli or Salmonella diagnosis | Excluded while symptoms last, then restricted or excluded with conditions for return |
| Sore throat with fever | Restricted, or excluded if the workplace serves a highly susceptible population |
The rules are stricter in places serving highly susceptible people, such as hospitals, nursing homes and childcare centers. The person in charge decides based on the code. Your local rules may set other return-to-work steps.
Going to work sick is never the responsible choice in a food job, even if you're short-staffed or you don't get paid sick leave. If your job puts you in a tough spot, talk with your manager before you come in.
Cuts, Burns, and Sores
Infected wounds can carry Staphylococcus bacteria, which make a toxin that cooking doesn't destroy.
- Hands or wrists: Cover the wound with an impermeable bandage or cover, then a single-use glove.
- Arms: Use an impermeable cover.
- Other parts of your body: Keep it covered with a dry, durable, tight-fitting bandage.
If a wound can't be properly covered, you may be restricted from working with food. Report any wound that looks infected, meaning that it's hot, swollen, or draining pus.
If a bandage falls off, stop work and tell your supervisor. Food it may have touched is usually discarded.
After Vomiting or Diarrhea at Work
Under the Food Code, a food business must have written procedures for cleaning up vomiting and diarrhea. Small droplets can spread several feet, and they carry norovirus. If someone is sick in your workplace:
- Get people away from the area.
- Tell the person in charge.
- Follow the written procedure, using the specified protective gear and cleaning products.
- Do not use a regular wiping cloth or a food-area sanitizer that isn't approved for this job.
Exposed food nearby is usually thrown out.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Rinsing without soap | Germs stay on your hands |
| Putting gloves on unwashed hands | The gloves become contaminated right away |
| Using a phone while wearing gloves | Germs from the phone go onto food |
| Coming to work with diarrhea | One person can infect many others |
| Covering a cut with a bandage only | The bandage can fall into food, and germs can reach your hands |
Check Your Understanding
1. You felt sick overnight and vomited twice, but you feel fine now. You're scheduled at 7 a.m. What do you do?
Call your manager before your shift. Under the Food Code, you stay out until you have been free of symptoms for at least 24 hours.
2. You slice your finger with a paring knife. It stops bleeding and you bandage it. Can you go back to making salads?
Only after you add a single-use glove over the bandage, and change it whenever it would otherwise need changing. First deal with any food or surfaces that the blood touched.
3. A coworker's skin and eyes have turned yellow. He says he feels okay. What needs to happen?
Jaundice must be reported to the person in charge. He should be excluded, and the local regulator must be told, until he has clearance to come back.
4. You took out the trash, then pulled on fresh gloves to plate a dessert. What was missed?
You needed to wash your hands first. Clean gloves on dirty hands get contaminated as you put them on.
Key Takeaways
- Clean your hands for at least 20 seconds, with 10 to 15 seconds of scrubbing, in a dedicated hand sink.
- Wash before you start and after anything that could dirty your hands.
- Gloves are one-task, single-use items, and they don't replace handwashing.
- Tell your manager about vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever and infected wounds.
- The Big 6 are norovirus, hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella Typhi and nontyphoidal Salmonella.
- Cover a hand wound with an impermeable bandage and a single-use glove.