Should a bald food handler wear a hairnet?

Hello all

Should or not a bald food handler wear a hairnat or head covering ?

Some of local authorities are requiring this to the chefs.

Regulations do not mention this posibility, I mean, food handlers being bald so it is said: " food handlers must wear hearnet".

Some other experiences, is there a conclusive answer?

Best regards

Esther

Dear Esther,

If the food handler has not even a single hair on his head (no dandruff, no visible skin infections) then IMO there would be no need for a head gear.

I disagree. The head covering (e.g. mobcap) should cover the ears ideally as well and so stops the food handler from touching the ears. Also, it becomes difficult with getting everyone to stick to the rules. One rule for all I say!

Hi Esther,

I agree with GMO, one rule for all fits all in this case.


Have a nice day, Okido

Yes, I agree one rule for all? My opinion was after considering any probability for contamination from the hair.

What is solution for the eye lashes / eye brows and moustaches which tend to contaminate when a person rubs eyes or face. Just a thought.

Dear Esther,

Yr questions are invariably tricky.



What is yr opinion on jewelry ??

Rgds / Charles.C

From the probability of contamination from hair, I agree with Jean. Also I agree on one rule for all.
For moustaches if the company policy is to have all associates clean shaved,it can be solved.But I always thought for a solution we can have for eyelashes/eyebrows.
Even I had difficulty in explaning to my associates when they asked the same question to me.
Any good reply for this?

Regards
Anie

Dear Esther:

Someone told me the key word of 'standardization'. For example, in the processing area with 10 workers and one of them is a bald. Nine are wearing protective caps except the bald. So, why not standardise your procedure to ask all of them to wear the caps.

Any other comment from the rest?


Yong

Hi Esther,

the human scalp harbours about 1.500.000 bacteria per cm². The head covering is not only there to prevent hair falling into the product but also to create a barrier between one of the most microbiologically populated surfaces of the human organism and the environment (eg. the touching/scratching hand).

Also - how would you deal with those wanna-be Bruce Willis characters who shave their scalp, but not necessarily regularly? Are they bald or not?

Best regards from Germany

Yes, I agree one rule for all? My opinion was after considering any probability for contamination from the hair. What is solution for the eye lashes / eye brows and moustaches which tend to contaminate when a person rubs eyes or face. Just a thought.

Dear Jean,

One of the most effective way to prevent the moustaches or beard fallen to our food is by shave it. However, I guess not everyone is willing to shave their moustache and beard (beliefs is the most resolute reason). So IMO, the effective way is to cover it by using masker, that can fully cover moustache and beard.

About the eye lashes/brows.. I think the probability for that part of ours to fall and contaminate our products is very low, and I dont think it will cause a high severity... But just in case, if your product is highly sensitive to microbial growth, then I recommend to use the protective goggles (but I think this is more appropriate for the pharmaceutical).

As for the rubbing and touching our bodies... I guess its obviously not allowed, its a mandatory needs from GMP. Thats why we make compulsory thing such as wearing gloves when contact to foods, and I guess no one willing to rub their eyes when using gloves.

To Esther: I think it would be churlish if we apply "Double Standard" on a food factory. It will create amusing atmosphere, and all the employee will scrutinize every single "space" in our system to break free from GMP rules.

Regards,


Arya

Dear Jean,

One of the most effective way to prevent the moustaches or beard fallen to our food is by shave it. However, I guess not everyone is willing to shave their moustache and beard (beliefs is the most resolute reason). So IMO, the effective way is to cover it by using masker, that can fully cover moustache and beard.

About the eye lashes/brows.. I think the probability for that part of ours to fall and contaminate our products is very low, and I dont think it will cause a high severity... But just in case, if your product is highly sensitive to microbial growth, then I recommend to use the protective goggles (but I think this is more appropriate for the pharmaceutical).

As for the rubbing and touching our bodies... I guess its obviously not allowed, its a mandatory needs from GMP. Thats why we make compulsory thing such as wearing gloves when contact to foods, and I guess no one willing to rub their eyes when using gloves.

To Esther: I think it would be churlish if we apply "Double Standard" on a food factory. It will create amusing atmosphere, and all the employee will scrutinize every single "space" in our system to break free from GMP rules.

Regards,


Arya

Dear Jean,

One of the most effective way to prevent the moustaches or beard fallen to our food is by shave it. However, I guess not everyone is willing to shave their moustache and beard (beliefs is the most resolute reason). So IMO, the effective way is to cover it by using masker, that can fully cover moustache and beard.

About the eye lashes/brows.. I think the probability for that part of ours to fall and contaminate our products is very low, and I dont think it will cause a high severity... But just in case, if your product is highly sensitive to microbial growth, then I recommend to use the protective goggles (but I think this is more appropriate for the pharmaceutical).

As for the rubbing and touching our bodies... I guess its obviously not allowed, its a mandatory needs from GMP. Thats why we make compulsory thing such as wearing gloves when contact to foods, and I guess no one willing to rub their eyes when using gloves.

To Esther: I think it would be churlish if we apply "Double Standard" on a food factory. It will create amusing atmosphere, and all the employee will scrutinize every single "space" in our system to break free from GMP rules.

Regards,


Arya

Dear Arya,



Thanks for your feedback. We do not recruit any food handler with a beard and it is clearly stated that moustaches should be trimmed or preferably the person has to be clean shaven and clean uniform with head gears to be worn etc… to avoid any chance of contamination.



Any facial hair (including eyelashes and eye brows) is like any hair and not forgetting the hair from the nose which can fall in and is inevitable. But here we have to consider the risk and I have not heard of any hair in food leading to food borne disease either. The use of masks would be ideal and relevant in a pharmaceutical or manufacturing industry.



The skin has 2 kinds of micro-organisms namely resident and transient. It is not possible to remove all the resident organisms by a hand wash and most of the resident flora does not cause any illness. S. aureus is the only one which can cause food poisoning. Most of the healthy individuals do not have S. aureus on their skin (until the skin is damaged or bruised and mostly found in the anterior the nose) and S.epidermidis is the one found in large numbers. It is generally considered safe to consume 1000 S. aureus per gram of food and it requires 1 million per gram to result in sufficient amount of exotoxins to produce the illness.





I agree rubbing or touching any part of the body during food handling is not allowed and has to be followed by a hand wash. But, I do not agree to the point, that wearing gloves will avoid / reduce the contamination. Gloves can lead to contamination if the person handles several things and does not change it frequently. There are chances for gloves to have pin holes or any defects which can allow micro-organisms from the hands to come onto the glove surface and can result in contamination. The hand washing frequency during wearing gloves will be less compared to bare hands as the staffs do not feel their hands are soiled or dirty. Hand washing is more important and yes, before and after wearing gloves. People can still rub their eyes with their hands while wearing gloves (not with their palms) and it is a normal instinct. That’s the reason why we train staff on good handling and hygiene practices at work.

Hi!

I agree with Jean with regards to the gloves. Ater all we need to look at the significant hazard and one rule for all. A clear policy should be stated and avoid any confusions later.

Training, training and training always is important for all food handlers and is an important control measure for any issue.

Hello all

Should or not a bald food handler wear a hairnat or head covering ?

Some of local authorities are requiring this to the chefs.

Regulations do not mention this posibility, I mean, food handlers being bald so it is said: " food handlers must wear hearnet".

Some other experiences, is there a conclusive answer?

Best regards

Esther

As an aid, Tesco's COP states that single use hair covering should be worn by all staff in production areas.

c x

Dont forget to provide some Actual data to food handler.. especially Micro data..if they dont folow the rule.. in my company now.. we always provide the data ( personnel and room hygiene, foreign matterials in strainer etc).. every month at the Review of monitoring meeting.. so... people know what happens and what shoud they to do to minimize Potential of contamination in Food Process area...

Dear All,

Here is a fairly comprehensive solution. I guess the eyebrows will require a full space gear. Can be found.



Slightly overkill perhaps ?? Certainly not routinely seen in fast-food outlets IMEX.

Rgds / Charles.C

Also we have to think about the sweat, they have a tendency to touch & wipe it.
I agree with the policy that everybody has to wear the hairnet.

thanks
Sheeja

Hi Esther,

Although there is no definitive ruling for this, a number of retailer and manufacturing standards state that head covring should cover the ears. This is good practice throughout the food industry. If this is the case, the bald person should wear head covering.

I hope this helps.
Jozee

Jozee - I am afraid even a bald chap may cross contaminate ingredients on foods from scalp disease or dandruff problems. Hmmm! I wonder what's the targeted micros in this case.

Slightly overkill perhaps ?? Certainly not routinely seen in fast-food outlets IMEX.

Rgds / Charles.C

The picture appears to show a prawn processing environment and if so, I can imagine the product sensitivity is certainly more demanding than those of fast-food outlets really.

The picture appears to show a prawn processing environment and if so, I can imagine the product sensitivity is certainly more demanding than those of fast-food outlets really.

The fact is that catering premises have far higher risks than food processors but somehow manage to get away with lower standards of personal hygiene. I think it's because the direct customers (i.e. us) don't demand better! Imagine if MacDonalds were supplying tesco with ready to eat foods!

True but fast food have much much shorter shelf life and packaging /storage environment for frozen/canned; cooked/uncooked etc have totally different considerations. Catering again is another story.

I have no experience in the UK on out-door catering but are foods served on single-use paper plates or ceramics!

True but fast food have much much shorter shelf life and packaging /storage environment for frozen/canned; cooked/uncooked etc have totally different considerations. Catering again is another story.

I have no experience in the UK on out-door catering but are foods served on single-use paper plates or ceramics!

Not ceramics. More likely to be paper plates or disposable items like napkins, paper etc. Unfortunately we don't get fish and chips in newspaper these days. Don't know why it's environmentally friendly and tastes great.

Regards,
Simon

Yep but just because something has a short shelf life, doesn't mean that getting hair in it isn't a problem. It bugs me that macdonald's staff just wear baseball caps but they expect their suppliers to have full high risk or high care (including the wearing of mob caps!)

Yep but just because something has a short shelf life, doesn't mean that getting hair in it isn't a problem. It bugs me that macdonald's staff just wear baseball caps but they expect their suppliers to have full high risk or high care (including the wearing of mob caps!)

The supermarkets are just as bad........ pity they don't practice what they preach!