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Overview
As part of licensing requirements for food establishments, food handlers are required to wear a mask or spit guard to prevent them from coughing or sneezing onto and contaminating food during the food preparation and handling process.
Activities where mask/spit guard is required
Personnel are required to put on masks/spit guards if they are involved in the following activities:
- Preparation of ingredients and/or cooking of food
- Packing of cooked and/or Ready-to-Eat food
- Dishing of cooked and/or Ready-to-Eat food
- Preparation of drinks
This applies to personnel in retail food establishments such as restaurants, takeaways, food shops within pubs/bars/nightclubs/discos, caterers, street hawkers handling / preparing ready-to-eat food for sale (e.g. ice cream), and foodstalls in hawker centers, coffee shops, canteens, food courts and temporary fairs (i.e. hawker and coffee shop assistants dishing cooked food will need to wear face masks or spit guards).It also applies to personnel in market stalls, market produce shops, and supermarkets that are engaged in the above activities. Examples include cooked char siew meat stalls in wet markets, and sushi, roast meat, and deli counters in supermarkets where there is handling of cooked/ready-to-eat food.
The requirement also applies to personnel in non-retail food establishments, which includes food manufacturers, central kitchens, meat, fish, and egg processing establishments, and slaughterhouses.
Masks and spit guards worn by food handlers should cover their mouth and nose. Masks may be disposable (e.g. paper masks, surgical masks, N95 masks) or reusable (e.g. cloth masks). For an overview on the use of masks and spit guards, please refer to the following poster (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil).
SFA will not hesitate to take firm action against anyone who does not comply with the mask or spit guard-wearing requirement.
Activities where mask/spit guard is not required
Personnel involved in the following activities are not required to put on masks/spit guards:
- Bringing plated food to consumers
- Delivery of packed/bento food to consumers
- Cleaning activities (e.g. collection of used crockery/utensils, washing or cleaning of dining tables)
- Stocking and storing of pre-packed goods
- Collection of payments from consumers
- Sale of raw and/or non-Ready-to-Eat market produce
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are spit guards allowed to be worn by food handlers?
Why are face shields not allowed to be worn by food handlers?
What will happen if a food handler does not comply with mask wearing?
I have a food handler that does not listen and always takes off his/her mask, will I get fined as an operator?
Will SFA require us to change our mask on a fixed frequency? Will we be fined if spit guards are dirty?
Where can I purchase spit guards?
For meat, fish, and egg processing lines, since the workers are handling raw food, why are they still required to wear masks/spit guards?
Cold stores are listed as exceptions in the “Meat, Fish, Egg Processing Establishments and Cold Stores” category. Why are they exempted?
Are slaughterhouse workers required to wear masks/spit guards?
For more information
You can contact us via the SFA Online Feedback Form.
