Step 1: Analyzing the Mechanism of Contamination:
Food hygiene refers to all environmental and physical measures necessary to ensure the safety, wholesomeness, and cleanliness of food at all stages of production, handling, storage, and preparation.
Step 2: Evaluating the Impact of Poor Hygiene:
A lack of adequate food hygiene directly introduces multiple pathways for contamination:
- Cross-Contamination: Using the same cutting board or knife for raw poultry and ready-to-eat salad vegetables can transfer pathogens like Salmonella.
- Poor Personal Hygiene: Food handlers who do not wash their hands thoroughly after using the restroom can transmit pathogens like E. coli, Norovirus, or Shigella directly to food.
- Improper Storage Temperatures: Storing perishable foods within the "temperature danger zone" ($5^\circ\text{C}$ to $60^\circ\text{C}$) allows pathogenic bacteria to multiply rapidly to dangerous levels.
These contamination pathways are the primary causes of foodborne infections and toxicities (food poisoning).
Step 3: Conclusion:
Therefore, the statement is
True.