When should you wash your hands in relation to personal hygiene during kitchen tasks?

• A. After touching your face, hair, or skin
• B. Only after handling raw meat
• C. Only after using the restroom
• D. Before washing dishes

Answer: (A)

Keeping hands clean in the kitchen starts with recognizing personal hygiene triggers. If you touch your face, hair, or skin, your hands can pick up oils, sweat, and bacteria from your body. Washing your hands right after that contact removes those contaminants before you touch food, utensils, or surfaces, reducing the chance of cross-contamination and foodborne illness. There are other important moments to wash—after handling raw meat or after using the restroom—but this option best reflects the idea of maintaining hygiene by neutralizing anything your hands may have picked up from your own body. Washing before dishwashing isn’t the same kind of personal-hygiene trigger.