Texas Food Safety Managers Practice Test

Unwashed hands can cause which of the following?

1. Botulism

2. Shellfish poisoning

3. Shigellosis

4. Listeriosis

The correct answer is: Shigellosis

Unwashed hands can indeed lead to shigellosis, which is an infectious disease caused by the Shigella bacteria. This disease is primarily transmitted from person to person via the fecal-oral route, meaning that the pathogens can be spread when individuals do not properly wash their hands after using the restroom. If a food handler who is infected with Shigella fails to wash their hands thoroughly before preparing or serving food, they can contaminate food and subsequently infect others. This highlights the critical importance of proper handwashing in food safety practices to prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses such as shigellosis. In contrast, other choices such as botulism, shellfish poisoning, and listeriosis, typically originate from other sources, such as improper food preservation techniques, consuming contaminated seafood, or eating raw or undercooked foods contaminated with the Listeria bacteria, respectively. Each of these illnesses has different pathways of transmission, emphasizing the unique role that hand hygiene plays specifically in preventing infections like shigellosis.