Efficacy of simple hand-washing in reduction of microbial hand contamination of Iranian food handlers

Foods are likely to be faecally contaminated during preparation or dissemination by the Iranian Muslim food handler that their religion enjoins the mechanical cleaning of themselves after defecation. The current study was designed to determine the actual rate of hand contamination of Iranian food handlers with pathogenic flora of faeces or nose and to evaluate the efficacy of simple hand-washing instruction in reduction of hand contamination.A before–after study was conducted on 150 randomly selected food handlers in an Iranian city, Shahrekord. At the first stage, the hands of 72.7% of food handlers were found to be contaminated. A comparison of the before-and-after data, revealed a significant decline in hand contamination of the food handler from 72.7% to 32% (P < 0.0001).Our study showed that the poor hygienic practice by the food handler is such a serious problem facing the health sector that it merits a further consideration by Iranian authorities.