Hand Washing

I consider this the number one most important part of food safety.  You can start with the best ingredients and follow every other rule of safe cooking, but if you contaminate the food with dirty hands, it is unsafe.

What is proper hand-washing?  It involves using soap and the hottest water you can stand.  It takes about 20 seconds of lathering, getting the palms and back of your hands, wrists, between the fingers, and under the nails.  Sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself three times.  And don't turn off the water with your now-clean hands.  Remember, a dirty hand turned it on.  Use a paper towel.

It also involves washing every time you have a contaminating event:

• Before beginning to cook
• After using the restroom
• After blowing your nose or covering a cough or sneeze
• After eating, drinking, or smoking (saliva contamination)
• When transferring from raw to cooked food
• When transferring from high-risk food like meat to low-risk like vegetables that will not be cooked
• After touching your hair, face, body, or clothing
• Both before and after doing dishes
• After doing any sort of cleaning project like sweeping, taking out trash, or picking up something off the floor
• After touching anything that may be unsanitary, like a damp sponge or used dish towel
• Every 20 minutes, even if there have been no contaminating events

And now for my opinion on foodservice gloves.  I, and many professional chefs, don't like them.  They actually discourage hand sanitation.  When you can't feel debris on your hands, you don't realize they need washing.  Cooks also use them instead of washing, and often do not wash when they change the gloves. But the public thinks they look more hygienic, so it has become standard practice in many establishments to use them.  It is not California state law.  Proper hand washing is.