There is so much good in the simple act of practicing good hand hygiene, which includes washing our hands and using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, at key moments:
- Hand hygiene helps us protect our own health, reducing our risk of infection and illness.
- Hand hygiene makes us a good friend or neighbor because when we do it we help stop the spread of germs from our hands to another person. And that person could be a young child, or another individual who is especially vulnerable to getting very sick.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides great information on the science behind handwashing and when an how to wash your hands. They are sharing with the public that proper handwashing can help to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness so you can stay healthy.1
Handwashing and Food Safety
Handwashing is a critical aspect of safe food handling at home and should be an essential pre-meal activity for the family. The food industry needs to do everything in its power to protect food from contamination – but in the end, your family will consume food at home, and your role in the chain of prevention includes avoiding the spread of harmful pathogens by dirty hands.
The Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Fight BAC!® recommendations highlight handwashing. Washing your hands correctly does not need to be complicated – just remember this:
Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food AND after using the bathroom, changing diapers and handling pets.
Observational research conducted by Dr. Christine Bruhn of the University of California, Davis, found 36% of study participants “washed” their hands for between 1-5 seconds.2 Less than 5 seconds -- that’s a “drive-by” handwashing! Not a good example for adults to set for young people and worse, not effective handwashing. When you wash your hands, sing Happy Birthday twice. There you go –that’s just about 20 seconds.
In addition, only one-third of the study participants used water only –no soap! For effective handwashing use running tap water AND soap. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
It’s time to go back to school – with water, soap and 20 seconds to scrub and rinse –you are on your way to effectively Fighting BAC!® and protecting the health of your friends and neighbors.
Learn more about handwashing and food safety at
www.fightbac.org.
The nonprofit Partnership for Food Safety Education (PSFE) delivers trusted, science-based behavioral health messaging and a network of resources that support consumers in their efforts to reduce risk of foodborne infection. GOJO is a proud supporter of PFSE.