Anyone who directly handles food, or surfaces likely to touch food, for a food business.
Anyone who directly handles food, or surfaces likely to touch food, for a food business. A food handler is defined in Standard 3.2.2 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code as a person who directly engages in the handling of food, or who handles surfaces likely to come into contact with food, for a food business. This is a broad definition: it covers cooks, kitchen hands, servers, baristas, packers and anyone who touches food or food-contact surfaces as part of the business. Food handlers carry personal responsibilities under the Code. They must take reasonable steps not to contaminate food, must not handle food when they are likely to contaminate it (for example when suffering certain illnesses or with an infected wound), and must maintain personal cleanliness. The food business also has duties toward its handlers, including ensuring they have the skills and knowledge needed for their work and providing the facilities that let them handle food safely. Day to day, a food handler washes hands thoroughly at the right moments, wears clean clothing, keeps hair and jewellery controlled, and avoids practices that spread contamination, such as handling ready-to-eat food and raw food without cleaning in between. They report illness symptoms like vomiting or diarrhoea to a supervisor and stay away from food handling until it is safe to return. Food handlers also carry out the routine controls a business relies on, such as checking and recording temperatures, following cleaning and sanitising schedules, using separate equipment for raw and ready-to-eat foods, and applying the two-hour/four-hour rule. Businesses support this by training handlers so their skills and knowledge match the tasks they perform. A kitchen hand at a catering company is a food handler. Before a shift he changes into a clean apron and washes his hands. While plating salads he notices he cut his finger, so he covers the wound with a coloured waterproof dressing and a glove, and tells the supervisor. When he later portions raw chicken, he uses a separate board and washes and sanitises before returning to the salads.
Frequently asked questions
Who counts as a food handler?
Anyone who directly handles food, or handles surfaces likely to contact food, for a food business. That includes cooks, servers, kitchen hands, baristas and packers, whether paid or volunteer.
Do food handlers have to be trained?
The Code requires the business to ensure food handlers have skills and knowledge in food safety and hygiene appropriate to their work. This does not always mean a formal qualification, but the knowledge must be adequate for the tasks performed.
Can a food handler work while sick?
No. A food handler who has a foodborne illness, or symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea, must not handle food where they might contaminate it, and must tell their supervisor.
What are a food handler's main hygiene duties?
Take reasonable steps not to contaminate food, maintain personal cleanliness including thorough handwashing, wear clean clothing, and cover wounds. These duties are set out in Standard 3.2.2.
Are volunteers at a fundraiser food handlers?
If they directly handle food or food-contact surfaces for the activity, they are food handlers and the same hygiene obligations apply. Some low-risk community activities have tailored guidance from state regulators.
