Sanitation practices in food preparation dramatically cuts the rate of norovirus transmission, according to a recent study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Food service customers were 226 percent more likely to catch the norovirus when infected employees came in to work instead of staying home, reported Infection Control Today. Effective preventive measures, according to the study, include the following:
- Sending a sick employee home and requiring that employee to stay home for an additional 24 hours after symptoms pass
- Handwashing before food preparation
- Wearing gloves when handling food
- Installing touch-free faucets to reduce infection transmission.
In determining which methods worked toward infection prevention, the FDA used a research model simulating a restaurant setting and implementing various levels of infection control in different scenarios. Researchers then compared which factors resulted in a lower infection rate among customers. The study found the lowest rates came from a high compliance with infection prevention methods.
