Avoiding Bare-Hand Contact with Ready-to-Eat Foods

Steps

1. 1Wash your hands before handling food
2. 2Decide whether the food is ready to eat: edible without more cooking or preparation to make it safe, such as cooked food, washed raw produce and bakery items. The Code's definition of food also includes ice
3. 3Critical stepChoose a barrier before you touch the food: deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, single-use gloves or dispensing equipment
4. 4Critical stepDo not touch exposed ready-to-eat food with bare hands
5. 5Critical stepWash your hands before putting on single-use gloves
6. 6Use one pair of gloves for one task only; discard them when damaged or soiled, or when the work is interrupted
7. 7Change gloves before starting a different task, such as after raw animal food and before ready-to-eat food (state guidance, for example from the Minnesota Department of Health, also says to change at least every four hours of continuous use; this is not a Food Code interval)
8. 8Never wash and reuse single-use gloves; throw them away
9. 9Critical stepCover a cut or open wound on the hand and wear a glove over the cover
10. 10Remember that gloves do not replace handwashing; wash again whenever the Food Code requires, including when switching from raw food to ready-to-eat food
11. 11Know the exceptions: bare hands may wash fruits and vegetables, and may add ready-to-eat food to a dish that will then be cooked to the required temperature
12. 12Use bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food only if your regulator has approved it in advance; it is never allowed when serving a highly susceptible population

What graders are watching for

Common mistakes

Related food safety hygiene skills

• Handwashing
• Glove Use
• Exclusion and Restriction of Sick Employees