PREVENTION OF FOOD POISONING
The Ministry of Health reminds all food handlers that,
food poisoning is an illness caused by eating harmful or contaminated
foods and its persistence can result to serious health hazards.
Therefore, to successfully prevent this unhealthy condition, every
food handler should observe the following measures:
FOOD MANAGEMENT
Foods to be eaten raw (e.g. salads and fruits) MUST be washed thoroughly.
- AVOID direct and indirect contact between
raw and cooked foods which will be consumed without further
heating.
- Use separate equipment and utensils for handling different
meats.
- Chopping boards MUST always be washed with
hot water after use and kept clean
- Frozen foods MUST be defrosted before cooking
in order to ensure adequate heat penetration.
- Foods MUST be thoroughly cooked
- AVOID excessive re-use of cooking oils.
- DO NOT apply chemical preservatives unless
they are specifically approved.
- DO NOT serve leftovers to clients.
- AVOID keeping large quantities of hot foods
in refrigerators as bacterial growth may occur in the centre
of the food which remains warm.
- Food MUST be held and transported in clean
containers and protected from any sort of contamination.
- Expired or adulterated food MUST NOT be
exposed to human consumption.
- There MUST NOT be flies, cockroaches, rats,
cats and dogs in the food premises.
WATER MANAGEMENT
- There should be constant supply of Water
- Water used for washing utensils, food and hands must be safe
and cannot be re-used.
- Always use h ot water to clean oily stained utensils and
surfaces.
Sanitary facilities :
- Availability of clean toilets/VIP latrines
- Availability of clean hand washing facilities
- Availability of sound drainage system and sound treatment
of waste water.
- Availability of Clean garbage storage dustbins with intact
covers.
Personal hygiene:
- Always wash hands before handling foods in the kitchen.
- Wash hands between food handling operations to prevent cross
contamination from raw to cooked foods.
- Always wash hands after visiting the toilet.
- Finger nails must be kept clean and short.
- Jewelry and Nail varnish SHOULD NOT be worn
by food handlers.
- A person suffering from jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting, fever,
sore throat with fever, septic cuts, boils or discharges from
ear, eye or nose MUST NOT handle food.
- Food handlers MUST BE medically examined
prior to employment and at an interval of 6 months.
- AVOID smoking in food preparation rooms;
NB:
The Ministry of Health is committed to providing conditions necessary for a healthy Rwandan population and will continue to closely work with food handlers in food poisoning prevention campaigns.
