Manual of Naval Preventive Medicine
Chapter 1: Food Service Sanitation
VII: Health Standards for Food Service Personnel

Department of the Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

1. All food service personnel must be thoroughly indoctrinated in personal hygiene and food sanitation, as well as in the methods and importance of preventing food-borne illness.

a. All food service personnel must receive a minimum of 6 hours annual food sanitation training. New food service personnel should receive this 6 hours training prior to actually beginning food service duties.

b. Food service attendants (temporary personnel) assigned for 30 days or less must receive 3 hours initial training and orientation. Food service attendants assigned in excess of 30 days must receive the minimum 6 hours training required of food service personnel.

c. All food service sanitation training must be conducted by qualified food sanitation instructors. Qualified food sanitation instructors are:

(1) Independent duty corpsmen (must requalify every 3 years);

(2) Preventive medicine technicians;

(3) Environmental health officers;

(4) Military personnel in pay grade E-5 and above who are successful graduates of a food sanitation instructor training course conducted at one of the NAVENPVNTMEDUs or other CHBUMED authorized course (must requalify every 3 years)

(5) Civilian employees who supervise or train food service personnel and are successful graduates of a food sanitation instructor training course conducted at one of the NAVENPVNTMEDUs or other CHBUMED authorized course (must requalify every 3 years).

d. Navy and Marine Corps food management teams may conduct food service sanitation training during official visits to commands provided the instructors are certified as required by SECNAVINST 4061.1 or Article 1-55.b. above.

e. The Food Service Training Certificate (NAVMED 4061/1) must be kept on file by the food service officer at the work location. They will not be held by individual personnel except on the occasion of permanent change-of-station transfer. These certificates must be verified by supervisory and medical department personnel during routine sanitation inspections.

2. All food service personnel must be physically clean and will wear clean garments when working in food service areas. Caps, hair nets or other effective hair restraints must be worn to prevent hair from falling into food. Military personnel with beards for medical reasons and civilian food service personnel must completely cover their beards with a "snood" or beard bag at all times while preparing, handling and serving food or while cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces. Food service personnel must keep their nails clean and trimmed short, and special attention must be directed to the cleanliness of their hands. Food service personnel must be instructed to thoroughly wash their hands and exposed portions of their arms with soap or detergent and warm potable water immediately prior to engaging in any food service operation, before handling food clean utensils and equipment; after eating, drinking, using tobacco, coughing, sneezing, touching the mouth, nose, or hair, after using the toilet; after handling raw meat, poultry or seafood; and after handling soiled utensils or soiled equipment. Conspicuous signs to this effect must be posted in food service and toilet areas. Food service personnel must report to the medical facility if they develop any open lesions, particularly on the face, neck, arms, and hands. To ensure compliance with the foregoing the galley master-at-arms, the responsible petty officer of the watch, the chief cook, the watch captain, or civilian supervisor as appropriate must inspect each watch or section before commencing work.

3. Food service personnel must not use tobacco in any form in areas where food is prepared, served, or stored or where dishes and utensils are washed. "NO SMOKING" signs must be posted in such areas.

4. Clothing and personal effects of food service personnel must not be kept in food preparation and serving areas; nor will personnel use these same areas for changing their clothes.

5. Single-use, disposable plastic gloves are acceptable (but not required) for use by food service personnel for the preparation and serving of food; these gloves must be used in a sanitary manner to preclude contamination of food. Plastic gloves are not a substitute or replacement for proper handwashing. Gloves must be stored where they will be readily accessible to the employees and protected from contamination. They must be used for only one purpose and be changed when food material (soil) accumulates, breaks occur in the gloves, interruptions in the operation occur, and when any of the reasons for hand washing listed in 1-55.2 above occur. Plastic disposable gloves as properly used in a food service facility are nothing more than an additional food handling utensil. The intended use may also be accomplished with other utensils such as tongs, picks, spatulas, scoops, and dipping spoons. The choice of food handling utensils should depend somewhat on the skill and experience of the individual food service worker and the desire of the supervisor. Plastic disposable gloves are not appropriate for tasks other than direct contact with food. They are unnecessary while properly using other food handling utensils and must not be used for tasks such as cleaning (no chemical protection), cooking (working the range, griddle, deep fat fryer or oven), scullery work, and dinnerware handling-or transport.

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

The listing of any non-Federal product in this CD is not an endorsement of the product itself, but simply an acknowledgement of the source. 

Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

This web version is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division.  It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMED P-5139, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense.

Contact Us  ·  ·  Other Brookside Products