Most people think they wash their hands well. But studies — and a quick UV check — prove otherwise. Even in the best-run business kitchens, invisible risks slip through the cracks, thanks to habits that go “bad” over time.
That’s how outbreaks start: not from one big mistake, but from small gaps in food safety compliance. Holes in your food safety and hygiene practices that become normalised.
Let’s look at how you can break poor food hygiene habits, spot weak links, and protect your food business from the invisible threat of a foodborne outbreak.
Table of Contents
What is the Chain of Infection?
The “chain of infection” is a simple model every food business should know (but doesn’t). Imagine six links in a chain (See Figure 1 below):
① Infectious agent
(harmful germ: bacteria, virus, fungi, parasite that can cause the infectious disease)
② Reservoir
(the host where it lives and grows — food handler or carrier)
③ Exit route
(how it gets out of the host — coughing, faeces, vomit)
④ Transmission
(how it spreads — airborne, or cross-contamination through hands, equipment, food)
⑤ Entry route
(how it gets into a new host — mouth e.g. a customer eats contaminated food or a staff member works with an infected team member)
⑥ Susceptible host
(the next customer or staff who develops the infection)
Break any link in that chain, and you stop the infection in its tracks.
👉 Did you know? Typhoid Mary was an invisible food handler who was a carrier of infection and left a trail of human destruction behind her.
Understanding the Chain of Infection Links
Let’s look at a practical example. In food safety, these six links are everywhere:
🔹 A virus like norovirus (agent) infects one of your food handlers during the winter months, when it is rife in the community.
🔹 The virus lives in a sick employee (reservoir) who has come to work ill.
🔹 It spreads through vomit (exit route) and is transmitted by dirty cloths, or hands.
🔹 The infection is passed to another worker or onto food by cross-contamination (transmission).
One of the most effective ways to break the chain of infection in any food business is by improving staff hand hygiene. Read our detailed post on why hand hygiene compliance still fails food service businesses in 2025.
🔹 A customer is served a meal with salad and eats it (entry route). Salad is a ready-to-eat food, therefore harmful germs are not killed before being eaten.
🔹 The customer falls ill (susceptible host) and the cycle repeats.
Breaking just one link stops the cycle (See Figure 1).
Figure 1: Visual Representation of the Chain of Infection
Where Hygiene Habits Go Bad in Kitchens
Every kitchen has workarounds — the easy-to-miss points where things start to slide often because of systemic factors within the environment. Examples include:
- Rushed handwashing (or skipping it when busy)
- Poor technique (missing thumbs, wrists, fingertips)
- Forgetting to wash between tasks (after handling raw and before touching ready-to-eat food)
- Cross-contamination by touching taps, fridge handles, or phones
- Use of dirty cloths
- Reusing the same disposable gloves between tasks.
- Failing to wash hands before putting on disposable gloves and after taking them off.
- Complacency — the belief is“it won’t happen to us”.
Poor Hand Hygiene Is A Critical Risk
Poor hand hygiene is a critical risk point — but it’s not the only one. The single biggest cause of outbreaks is staff working whilst ill, especially with norovirus. Even the best hygiene routine won’t save you if sick staff are handling food. Yet I see it happen all the time.
Viruses and bacteria don’t just spread from hand to food — they survive on high-contact touch points like taps, fridge handles, light switches, and phones. Every time a clean hand touches a contaminated surface, the chain reforms.
Over time, even the best teams pick up shortcuts or slip into old habits. That’s why regular training, clear systems, visible reminders and immediate performance feedback loops are vital.
Seeing is Believing — Why UV Training Works
You can give all the lectures you like about hand hygiene, but nothing beats seeing it for yourself.
Here’s what we do with clients:
We use a safe UV gel or powder that mimics harmful pathogens.
Staff apply the gel, wash their hands as usual, and then place them under a UV lamp.
Every spot they missed lights up — fingertips, nails, wrists, you name it.
Even the most experienced chefs, food handlers, even school teachers, get a surprise! They thought they were washing their hands well.
Why it works:
Turns invisible harmful pathogens (a huge threat to your business) into visible proof
Removes blame — staff can see for themselves how ineffective their habitual handwashing practice really is
Makes training memorable and even fun
Want to know why it matters? Just one missed area can let norovirus or other bugs slip through — read about Norovirus in Food Businesses for a recent outbreak story.
Practical Steps to Break the Chain of Infection
So how do you stop small slips from turning into big gaps in your safety defences? Here are some practical steps every food business can take to break the chain of infection:
🔹 Short, regular bite-size training:
Keep it simple: 5-minute refreshers, not hour-long lectures.
🔹 Simple wellness checks (as part of daily opening routines):
A quick daily check-in can catch problems before they spread. The Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) pack already includes this step — asking if staff have had diarrhoea, vomiting, or fever. In our own systems, we build it into opening checks every day, recorded in a wire-bound logbook, alongside hygiene and cleaning tasks. Some businesses also add a personal hygiene audit at closing time.
🔹 Monthly UV hand hygiene checks:
Visual feedback works — it’s fast and eye-opening.
🔹 Clear signage and facilities:
Make sure sinks are easy to reach, with hot water, soap, and disposable towels. Use signs as gentle reminders, especially in high-risk areas.
🔹 Non-punitive culture:
Don’t shame or blame — encourage staff to speak up and correct mistakes together. Staff often hide illness because they can’t afford to lose wages, or because they fear being penalised. Trust and fair policies are part of infection control.
🔹 Spot the invisible:
Train staff that feeling fine doesn’t mean they’re not carrying germs. “Invisible risk” is always present.
🔹 Active management oversight:
Hygiene habits slip without structure. Managers should monitor handwashing, wellness checks, and cleaning daily. If controls aren’t working, correct them in real time. Keep a simple sick log so no one returns to work too early.
Dr Julie Rasmussen
Book a UV Hand Hygiene Demo for Your Team
🔹 Want to really change habits — and make hand hygiene training stick?
Book a UV hand hygiene demonstration for your team. We bring the UV lamp, gel, and everything needed for a quick, interactive session in your business kitchen.
Suitable for chefs, kitchen porters, school canteens, care homes, and more.
See exactly what gets missed — and what to fix — in just minutes.
Organise UV hand hygiene training today and start breaking bad habits before they break your business.
Next Steps & Resources
Good hygiene isn’t about fear or blame — it’s about catching the little things before they turn into big problems. Break one link in the chain, and you break the risk.
Explore more practical food safety guides:
Food Safety Compliance: Closing Gaps With Behavioural Science
Typhoid Mary: The Invisible Risk of Asymptomatic Carriers in Food Handlers