Retail Food Protection: Employee Health and Personal Hygiene Handbook

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed this Employee Health and Personal Hygiene Handbook to encourage practices and behaviors that can help prevent food employees from spreading viruses and bacteria to food. It provides information in a question-and-answer format that food establishment management and food employees can use to prevent the spread of disease.

This handbook also provides easy reference to forms and tables that retail food establishments and the public health community may find useful when training staff and addressing employee health and hygiene matters. The information in this handbook has been updated to reflect the most current full edition of the 2017 FDA Food Code and includes the following new additions:

1. the six highly infective pathogens that can easily be transmitted by food workers ("Big 6)
2. new section addressing response to contamination events (clean -up of vomiting and diarrheal events)
3. new question addressing disposition of ready-to-eat food that may have contaminated by an employee who has been restricted or excluded.