Cross Contamination

•The transfer of germs from one food item to another•Transferred to a cooked or ready-to-eat food via contaminated hands, equipment or utensils. •Contaminated food contains germs or harmful substance that can cause food borne illness.

What is Cross Contamination

Types of Cross Contamination

Important things to

remember• Always store cooked and ready-to-eat foods over raw products

• Keep raw and ready to eat foods separate during storage

• Use good personal hygiene and hand washing

• Keep all food-contact surfaces clean and sanitary

• Avoid bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods

Avoiding Cross Contamination

There are many things you can do to avoid, or at least reduce, opportunities for cross contamination during food preparation and service. An important part of food safety is to impress upon your employees the importance of clean hands and clothing.

To avoid cross contamination by way of food-contact surfaces (e.i., cutting boards, knife blades, slicers, and preparation tables) an effective in-house cleaning and sanitation

Provide on going supervision to ensure employees remain clean and apply safe food handling practices when working with food

Once bacteria get on the surface, they can be difficult to remove. To avoid such a buildup, always clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces thoroughly before working with ready-to-eat foods and foods that will not be heat processed.

Preventive measures to eliminate the possibility of cross contamination between product and may include the ff.:

• Preparation of ready to eat foods first- then raw foods

• Preparation of raw and ready to eat foods in separate areas of the kitchen

Always keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods

• In the refrigerator, ready to eat foods must be stored above raw foods. Display cases, such as those use to display seafood items, should be designed to keep raw and cooked food items separate. In addition separate buckets in place of sanitizing solution and wiping cloths should be used for cleaning food contact surfaces in raw and ready-to-eat food production areas.

Other sources of

Contamination• Raw foods

• Utensils used to dispense and served foods

• Animals• Germs from

a worker’s mouth

SolutionWHEN SHOPPING:• Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods in the

grocery cart. Place these foods in plastic bags to prevent juices from dripping onto other foods.

WHEN STORING:• Place raw meat, poultry and seafood in containers or sealed bags to

prevent their juices from dripping. WHEN PREPARING:• Wash hands and surfaces often. Harmful bacteria can spread

throughout the food preparation area and contaminate cutting boards, utensils, counter tops and the preparer's hands.

• Wash hands with soap and hot water before and after handling food.• Use soap and hot water to clean kitchen surfaces. Use a sanitizer to

clean spills and kitchen counter tops.• Wash, rinse and sanitize cutting boardsWHEN SERVING:• Always use a clean plate or serving utensils. Never place cooked food

on the same plate that previously held raw food. Change utensils when you change products.

END