The Role of Personal Hygiene Practices in Food Safety [Free Download]

By AIB International

There is nothing glamorous about working in the food industry. Regardless of your role in the food manufacturing process, the safety and quality of the food you are producing, packaging, or storing is your top priority. Therefore, during your working hours, don’t worry about your appearance and focus on following protocol.

The first step toward high-quality, safe food is ensuring all personnel working in direct contact with food, food-contact surfaces, and food-packaging materials adhere to hygiene practices. As raw materials are received, transferred, stored, transported, manipulated, or processed to deliver a final product, facilities must ensure that personnel, processes, and conditions do not introduce a food safety concern.

As outlined in the AIB International Consolidated Standards for Inspections, current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) require that suitable facilities are provided to personnel for routine handwashing to remove contamination from hands. Sanitary conditions must also be maintained in all employee washrooms, showers, and locker rooms.

Personal cleanliness and hygiene practices

While on duty, all personnel working in direct contact with food, food-contact surfaces, and food-packaging materials must adhere to hygiene practices to prevent allergen cross-contact and food cross-contamination issues.

It is expected that all personnel wash their hands before beginning work, and after eating, drinking, smoking, using the restroom, or otherwise soiling their hands.

Some of the basic personnel cleanliness and hygiene practices include:

1. Wear suitable, clean other garments or uniforms.
2. Wear suitable footwear.
3. Wear effective hair restraints to fully contain hair, including hair nets, headbands, caps, beard or moustache covers, or other effective hair restraints.
4. If gloves are needed, make sure they are adequately controlled to avoid product contamination.
5. Personnel in contact with food products need to remove watches, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings with settings, false fingernails, false eyelashes, fingernail polish, and visible or exposed piercings.
6. Personnel should not wear perfume or aftershave.
7. Pens, pencils, and thermometers should only be carried in pockets below the waist in the production area.

Details make the difference

It is very important that the plant includes changing facilities for employees, visitors, and contractors so that personnel can change before entering the food processing area in operations where this is deemed critical. Additionally, there should be enough space to store work clothes and shoes separately from outdoor clothing, shoes, and personal items.

Whenever possible, changing facilities are located near or with direct access to production, packaging, and storage areas. Where protective clothing is required, it is always available and laundered or cleaned in a controlled environment.

Personnel hygiene requirements around the world

In many countries around the world, personal hygiene requirements are regulated. Some requirements are very specific, while others are simply expectations about how food manufacturers should behave.

In the United States, the Code of Regulations Title 21, Subpart B, Part 117.10 lists all the reasonable measures and precautions that food manufacturers need to meet regarding personnel.

In Europe, Anexx II of the Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 Of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs provides the European Union with basic guidelines regarding personal hygiene.

In Australia, Standard 3.2.2. Food Safety Practices and General Requirements reinforces the importance of good personal hygiene practices to ensure the production of safe food.

In India, you can find the personal hygiene requirements for food businesses in the Food Safety Standards (Licensing and Registration of Businesses) Regulation 2011, Section 10, part 10.2.

And in Mexico, the standard NOM-251-SSA1-2009 (Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-251-SSA1-2009, Prácticas de Higiene para el Proceso de Alimentos, Bebidas o Suplementos Alimenticios, in Spanish) specifies the personal hygiene practices expected in all food manufacturing facilities. (Updated 2/1/2023)

Even though some of these regulations are more specific than others, the objective remains the same, to ensure the safety of food.

Other resources

Below is a list of resources that can help you learn more about personnel practices, sanitation, and food safety, among other topics:

Food Safety and Sanitation Online: this course is geared towards helping mid-level managers and supervisors in the food supply chain more effectively manage their food safety systems. With its unique curriculum and design, participants can select from the 24 modules and complete those relevant to their needs or responsibilities.

Personnel Practices: this 60-minute online module has been designed to teach employees how to follow regulatory guidelines, learn and apply personal cleanliness and hygiene practices, and take measures to prevent foodborne illnesses.

Food Safety Essential: designed to support frontline workers quickly gain the knowledge they need to perform their jobs. This training is available in English, Spanish and Mandarin.