What action is required if a worker handles a customer's credit card before preparing food?

When a worker handles a customer's credit card before preparing food, it is essential that they wash their hands. This action is important because handling items such as credit cards can transfer contaminants or bacteria from the card to the worker's hands. Since food safety is crucial in preventing foodborne illness, maintaining proper hand hygiene at all times is a fundamental practice.

Washing hands helps eliminate any potential pathogens that may have been transferred during the handling of non-food items. This step ensures that when the worker then prepares food, they do so with clean hands, thereby minimizing the risk of contaminating the food.

Other actions such as throwing away the credit card or changing gloves do not effectively address the contamination risk associated with hand hygiene. Disinfecting the work surface is also not relevant in this scenario since the primary concern is the cleanliness of the worker's hands before they interact with food. Therefore, handwashing is the critical action necessary to maintain food safety standards.