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Nutrition Food Safety

How to Keep Your Hands Clean and Your Food Safe

Summary & Participants

You know clean hands are important in the kitchen. But do you know the right way to wash them?

Medically Reviewed On: August 07, 2008

Webcast Transcript

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, American Dietetic Association: Your hands can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Then if there’s bacteria on your hands which goes to your food, it could cause food borne illness.

ANNOUNCER: You know clean hands are important when preparing food. But do you know the right way to clean them?

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, American Dietetic Association: There's definitely hand-washing rules. You want to wash you hands in warm, soapy water for at least twenty seconds. A good way to know what twenty seconds is, is if you sing the Happy Birthday chorus twice, then that should take care of it.

ANNOUNCER: And washing once is not enough.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, American Dietetic Association: You're going to prepare something like meat, and then after that you're cutting up other fruits and vegetables, you could cause cross contamination. So in between the different foods that you're using, you should be washing your hands with warm, soapy water.

ANNOUNCER: You also need to watch what you grab to dry your hands.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, American Dietetic Association: It's very important that you do not dry your hands on the same towel that you used to mop up the countertop. The best way to dry your hands is either with a separate hand towel, or what's even better than that is just using paper towels and then disposing them.

ANNOUNCER: If water isn’t available, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will do the job.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, American Dietetic Association: If you have a picnic, for example, you could take the hand sanitizing little naps that they sell individually wrapped, or you can buy the kind that are sort of in gel form. Just be sure that your hands are really moist and that you're rubbing them thoroughly to get them clean.

ANNOUNCER: So remember – keep your hands clean – and your food safe! Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.