Selling Homemade Food Products in NH - The Basics - Health and Hygiene [Fact Sheet]

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Starting a homestead food business is a dream of many home cooks. Beginning small, in your primary home kitchen, with shelf-stable baked goods and other approved foods is a practical way to try out this venture. One of the first things to keep in mind when preparing food for others is safe food handling practices including good personal hygiene habits.

Working while sick or having poor personal hygiene practices can contaminate food and cause foodborne illness outbreaks and other diseases like colds and the flu. Implementing health and hygiene policies can help reduce unwanted contamination of your product.

How People Contaminate Food

Food handlers can contaminate food in many ways, for example:

• When they don’t wash their hands before they touch food
• When they are sick
• When caring for someone who is sick
• When they have exposed cuts, sores or open wounds that are infected
• When they are wearing dirty clothing

Policy Review

Develop health and hygiene policies and review them at least yearly. Suggested review topics include basic hygiene, recommended handwashing technique, and how to handle injury  or illness.

Health and Hygiene Policies and Training

We aren’t born knowing how to properly maintain clean and sanitary food preparation areas, so it’s important to educate yourself on health and hygiene policies to keep yourself and any workers aware of the necessary practices. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has good information on handwashing and personal hygiene (see resources at the bottom of this fact sheet). Develop health and hygiene policies and review them at least yearly. Suggested review topics include basic hygiene, recommended handwashing technique, and how to manage injuries or illness.

Recommended Handwashing Practices

Good handwashing is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of illnesses and diseases. Clean hands help keep food and containers safe during processing. Follow these guidelines for how and when to wash your hands:

How to wash your hands:

• Wet hands with warm, clean drinking water
• Apply soap – enough to build up a good lather
• Scrub hands and arms vigorously for 20 seconds. Be sure to clean between fingers and under fingernails
• Rinse hands and arms thoroughly using warm, clean drinking water
• Dry hands and arms using a single-use paper towel or hand dryer. Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and/or open the door when leaving the restroom

When to wash hands:

• Before starting work
• Before and after eating, drinking, or smoking
• After using the bathroom
• When changing food preparation and processing tasks
• After touching your hair or clothing
• After coughing or sneezing
• After touching anything that might contaminate your hands
   

Clean Hands

Good handwashing is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of illnesses and diseases. Clean hands help keep food and containers safe during preparation and processing steps.

Worker Health

If you or anyone helping you has the following symptoms, they should not be permitted to handle food or enter the kitchen:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and eyes)
• Sore throat with a fever

Owners and workers diagnosed by a health practitioner with an illness caused by the following harmful microbes (bacteria and viruses) must wait until their health practitioner and/ or regulatory authority, such as a health department, indicates it is safe to handle food:

• Salmonella Typhi or non-typhoidal Salmonella
• Shigella Spp.
• Norovirus
• Hepatitis A
• Escherichia coli