Building a Food Safe Culture

Foodborne illness comes from food or drink that is contaminated. The food may not have been fully cooked, or it may have been handled by someone who was ill or who had not washed their hands. Even simple errors during handling and manufacturing can make someone ill.

Adequately trained food handlers improve food safety and reduce the behaviours associated with illness and outbreaks. Proper training helps employees understand why they wash their hands after using the toilet, why clean-as-you-go matters, and why they must report diarrhoea immediately. When people understand that an unhygienic practice at work can make someone ill, they are more likely to take care.

Food safety is about doing simple things right, and that takes training. Personal hygiene, handwashing after certain activities, and sanitising equipment all play a part. Do not limit training to managers and supervisors. Production staff and cleaners are the people actually handling food.

Expect some resistance while the rules are new. Once they become the normal way of working, they stick. Training should not be a paper exercise to satisfy a standard. Train people so the knowledge is useful at work and at home. Handwashing is one example that matters far beyond a food business.