Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972)RegulationsRegulations Governing General Hygiene Requirements for Food Premises, the Transport of Food and Related Matters11. Duties of a food handler |
| (1) | Food, a facility or a container must not be handled by a person— |
| (a) | whose hands or clothes are not clean; |
| (b) | whose fingernails are not short, trimmed, clean and free from any adornment: |
| (c) | who has not washed his or her hands thoroughly with soap and water or cleaned them in another effective manner— |
| (i) | immediately prior to the commencement of each work shift; |
| (ii) | at the beginning of the day's work or after a rest period; |
| (iii) | after every visit to a latrine or urinal; |
| (iv) | every time he or she has blown his or her nose or after his or her hands have been in contact with perspiration or with his or her hair, nose or mouth; |
| (v) | after handling a handkerchief, money or a refuse container or refuse; |
| (vi) | after handling raw vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat or fish and before handling ready-to-use food; |
| (vii) | after he or she has smoked or used tobacco in any form or on return to the food premises; |
| (viii) | after handling a non-prepacked foodstuff classified as a common allergen where the contamination can result in the cross contamination of other food not associated with common allergens; or |
| (ix) | after his or her hands have become soiled or contaminated for any other reason. |
| (2) | Food, a facility or a container may not be handled by a person— |
| (a) | who has on his or her body a suppurating abscess or a sore, a cut or an abrasion, including other infected skin lesions, unless covered with a moisture proof dressing which is firmly secured to prevent contamination of the food; |
| (b) |
| (i) | who has reported or who is suspected of suffering from or being a carrier of a disease or condition in its contagious stage likely to be transmitted through food, which includes jaundice, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, sore throat with fever and discharges from the ear, eye or nose; |
| (ii) | a person referred to in subparagraph (i) may only resume handling food, a facility or a container if the person submits a certificate by a medical practitioner stating that the person is fit to handle food; |
| (c) | whose hands or clothing are not clean. |
| (3) | A person may not— |
| (a) | spit in an area where food is handled or on any facility; |
| (b) | smoke or use tobacco in any other manner while he or she is handling non-prepacked food or while he or she is in an area where the food is handled; |
| (c) | handle non-prepacked food in a manner that brings it into contact with any exposed part of his or her body, excluding his or her hands; |
| (d) | lick his or her fingers when he or she is handling non-prepacked food or material for the wrapping of food; |
| (e) | cough or sneeze over non-prepacked food or food containers or facilities; |
| (f) | spit on whetstones or bring meat skewers, labels, equipment, or any other object used in the handling of food or any part of his or her hands into contact with his or her mouth, or inflate sausage casings, bags or other wrappings by mouth or in any other manner that may contaminate the food; |
| (g) | walk, stand, sit or lie on food or on non-hermetically sealed containers containing food, on containers, on food-processing surfaces or other facilities; |
| (h) | use a hand washbasin for the cleaning of facilities; or |
| (i) | while he or she is handling food, perform any act other than those referred to above, which may contaminate or spoil food. |