Food Safety Day 2022 reminds public to maintain hand hygiene while preparing food (with photo)

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) started its year-round Food Safety Day 2022 campaign today (June 7) to remind the food trade and the public that good hand hygiene is the single most important thing one can do to help reduce the spread of infections along the food chain.

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in 2018 designating June 7 as World Food Safety Day. CFS representatives participated in the World Food Safety Day webinar of the Asia-Pacific region organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization on June 2, and will also participate in the "Safer Food, Better Health" online panel discussion later today to exchange views with food safety authorities of different regions on food safety issues.

To tie in with World Food Safety Day 2022, the CFS set hand hygiene as the theme of Food Safety Day 2022. "Proper hand hygiene is very effective in safeguarding food safety. We are happy to collaborate with the District Health Centres (DHCs) to start off the event this year in order to raise public awareness of hand hygiene and food safety in a more effective manner," the Controller of the CFS, Dr Christine Wong, said.

"The DHCs will join hands with the CFS to enhance the public's awareness and knowledge of hand hygiene practice while handling food through health talks and training, as well as educational videos broadcast at DHCs across the territory," the Director of the DHC Team, Mr Jimmy Wu, added.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "Food handlers play a crucial role in ensuring food safety. Hand hygiene is critical in safeguarding food safety by food workers as proper hand washing removes harmful germs such as E. coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms. This helps prevent the transmission of harmful microorganisms to food items."

The spokesman reminded food handlers and members of the public that proper hand hygiene procedures before handling food as well as before and after using gloves comprise wetting hands with clean running water followed by rubbing lathered hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, washing them under clean running water and drying the cleaned hands with clean tissue paper.

The CFS has revised its Hand Washing Guideline for Food Handlers and launched a Clean Hands Well to Eat Well social media campaign, highlighting the importance of hand washing when handling food and the proper usage of disposable gloves.

To prevent food-borne diseases, the trade and the public are urged to maintain proper hand hygiene as well as observe the Five Keys to Food Safety while preparing food. Given the frequent use of portable electronic devices, the CFS also emphasised to food workers that wearing gloves cannot replace adequate hand washing and they should focus on timely and appropriate hand washing practices.

For details of the events under Food Safety Day 2022, please visit the CFS's website (www.cfs.gov.hk).

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's Centre for Food Safety started its year-round Food Safety Day 2022 campaign today (June 7), setting hand hygiene as the theme and collaborating with the District Health Centres to remind the food trade and the public that good hand hygiene is the single most important thing one can do to help reduce the spread of infections along the food chain.

Ends/Tuesday, June 7, 2022