Research: 40% of Australians Don’t Wash Their Hands Before Preparing Food

The Food Safety Information Council published new research suggesting that more than 20 percent of Australians don’t always clean their hands after going to the toilet.

Presenting the findings at the AOSDAC19 Cleaning & Hygiene Conference in Sydney Lydia Buchtmann, the Communication Director of the Council, said the findings showed that the threat to public health could be even greater because nearly 40% of participants also confessed that they had not always washed their hands before preparing food.

The research indicated a differences in sex as males were less likely to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before handling food than females.

Younger people were also less likely to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before preparing food than older individuals.

Ms Buchtmann commented that Good handwashing, proper use of running water, soap and drying hands is a basic message of public health that people tend to forget.

”A fifth of Australians say they don’t always wash their hands after going to the toilet and more than a third admit they don’t always wash before touching food.” Said Ms Buchtmann.

The Food Safety Information Council’s advice is to always wash and dry your hands:

* before handling, preparing and eating food * after touching raw meat, fish, shell eggs or poultry

* after using the toilet, attending to children’s toiletting and changing nappies

* after blowing your nose

* after touching a pet

* after gardening