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Food For Thought
HMC menus and recipes are designed with safe food handling in mind with proper internal cooking temperatures, and HAACP built in. Check a recipe and see if the staff are following the proper HAACP steps during food preparation. 
 
Janet M Redemail or call Janeet with questions or ideas about menus or recipies abot your food menus.
   
Janet Montano, RD Director of Menu Services
Food Funnies

 Where do vegetables go to drink?

 

To the Salad Bar.

Contact the Editor
Editor Judy Morgan, MBA, RDPlease send your RDNews comments, suggestions & questions to  Judy Morgan, MBA, RD
  
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Issue: 86October 12, 2010
Greetings!           

Why are we dedicating an entire newsletter to hand washing? Because F371 Sanitary Conditions is the #1 cited deficiency across the nation in surveys. Proper hand washing and glove use will give surveyors less ammunition toward citing this deficiency.

 This week we feature an in-service: Click here for a printable version ready to present to the dietary staff at your communities. A recent article on gloves and food safety can be found at foodsafetynews.com where you can also sign up for their food safety newsletter. 
HAND WASHING AND GLOVE USE 
Many facilities are over-using and improperly using gloves in the dietary department. Glove use itself may also pose a risk for cross contamination because of the artificial sense of safety they provide. Trayline service does not require the use of gloves during plating and service since all food and garnish is to be served with a utensil. Regular thorough hand washing is still the best defense against cross contamination and in reducing the risk of food borne illness. Surveyor guidance for F371 Sanitary Conditions states that "Gloved hands are considered a food contact surface that can get contaminated or soiled. Failure to change gloves between tasks can contribute to cross-contamination. Disposable gloves are a single use item and should be discarded after each use".

Refer to your HMC Policy and Procedure Manual, Policy 210 "Personal Hygiene and Appearance"
  • All employees shall wash hands with soap as per policy #615 Hand Washing
  • Fingernails must be trimmed, filed and easily cleanable
  • Gloves shall be worn when contacting food and when food contact surfaces of the employee have any cuts, sores, rashes, artificial nails, nail polish or orthopedic devices
  • Even plain rings, such as a wedding band, should be worn with glove covering
Best practice is not to wear rings, nail polish, artificial nails, bracelets or watches since they greatly increase the likelihood of glove puncture and tend to harbor higher concentrations of harmful bacteria than bare hands.
 
Policy 615 "Hand Washing" states that hands are to be washed:
  • When entering the Dietary department
  • After touching bare human body parts
  • After using the restroom
  • After coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or tissue, after using tobacco, after eating or drinking (except with straws in enclosed containers)
  • Before wearing gloves for working with food
  • During food preparation as often as necessary to remove soil and contamination and to prevent cross contamination when changing tasks
  • When switching between working with raw food and working with ready to eat food
  • After handling soiled equipment or utensils
  • After caring for or handling service animals or aquatic animals
  • After handling money or personal possessions
  • After engaging in other activities that contaminate the hands.

Chemical hand sanitizers must be specifically approved for food usage, and applied after hand washing. Sanitizers are not to be applied to disposable gloves, and disposable gloves are not to be washed, rinsed or reused.

RD Tip
Procedures for washing hands should be demonstrated at the hand sink during your in-service. Make sure you use an attendance record for staff to sign in: see HMC Policy and Procedure Manual, Personnel section, page 49 for the in-service attendance record. Copy the in-service record and outline to the Director of Staff Development for personnel records and make sure you identify the in-service given on your Consultant Dietitian Visit Report. Help the Dietary Manager organize an in-service binder and keep records of all your in-services there.
Dear Dietitian
Thank you to all who gave feedback on the RD Poll. Overall, the responses were positive and you are using the resources in the newsletters. 100% of the respondents felt the topics have been useful and relevant this year. Topics of interest for the future in order of most important were: Survey Alerts, Nutrition Care Process, and a tie for Clinical focus on Enteral/Parenteral, Renal, and Diabetes care, then labs and skin. Many of you expressed the desire to have more clinical/medical nutrition therapy articles, survey trends, highlights of success stories at facilities and in-service education materials. I hope to incorporate all of your suggestions into future issues. Thanks for the feedback!
 
Judy Morgan, MBA, RD
RDNews Editor