Colour-Coding Utensils, Cloths and Equipment

Colour-coding assigns a set colour to utensils, cloths, buckets, tubs and boards for a single food type or task, so raw meat, seafood, cooked food, produce and allergens never share equipment. It is a simple, visual barrier against cross-contamination that anyone can follow at a glance. Extending it beyond chopping boards to knives, tongs, cleaning cloths and containers closes the gaps where bacteria and allergens quietly transfer between foods. Key takeaways: Colour-coding gives each food type or task its own utensils, cloths, buckets and boards, creating a fast visual barrier against cross-contamination.. Chopping boards are only the start — knives, tongs, cleaning cloths, containers and even buckets carry the same transfer risk and should be coded too.. There is no single legal colour scheme in Australia; the Food Standards Code requires you to prevent cross-contamination, and colour-coding is one accepted way to do it.. A colour system only works if staff are trained, a chart is displayed, and coded items are washed and stored separately.. Allergen control benefits hugely from a dedicated colour (often purple) for equipment used to prepare allergen-free meals.. Why colour-coding works Cross-contamination happens when harmful bacteria or allergens move from one food to another, usually through shared equipment, hands or surfaces. A knife that cut raw chicken and is then used on salad, or a cloth that wiped a raw-meat bench and then a serving counter, can transfer pathogens straight onto ready-to-eat food. These transfers are invisible and easy to make when a kitchen is busy. Colour-coding removes the guesswork. When the red board, red knife and red tub are only ever used for raw meat, and the green set is only for salad and fruit, a cook does not have to remember which item touched what. The colour tells them instantly, even under pressure, and even for a new staff member who cannot yet read every label. The same logic scales across the whole kitchen. The more tools you bring into the system — not just boards but knives, tongs, cloths, buckets and containers — the fewer paths bacteria and allergens have to cross from raw to cooked, or from an allergen to an allergen-free dish. Beyond chopping boards: what else to code Most kitchens colour-code chopping boards and stop there, which leaves obvious gaps. A colour-coded board paired with a single all-purpose knife simply moves the contamination risk from the board to the blade. To close the loop, the tools that touch food alongside the board need to match. Think of colour-coding as covering an entire task, not one object. Everything that handles a particular food type in its raw or unwashed state should share the colour. Knives, including the handle so the colour is visible in a knife block or on a magnetic rail. Tongs, spatulas, whisks and other hand utensils. Cleaning cloths, sponges and scourers. Buckets, mop heads and cleaning caddies for different zones. Storage tubs, containers and their lids. Aprons or disposable glove colours in higher-risk operations. Choosing a colour scheme Australia has no single mandated colour scheme, so any consistent system is acceptable provided it genuinely prevents cross-contamination. That said, a widely used industry convention makes training easier and helps staff who move between venues, because the colours already mean something familiar to them. A common set assigns red to raw meat, blue to raw fish and seafood, yellow to raw poultry, green to salad, fruit and vegetables, brown to cooked meat and ready-to-eat food, white to bakery and dairy, and purple to allergen-free preparation. You do not have to use every colour — a small cafe might run just red for raw, green for produce and purple for allergens. What matters most is that your scheme is documented, displayed and used the same way by everyone, every shift. Pick a set, write it down, and resist the temptation to improvise when the right-coloured item is in the wash. Red — raw meat. Blue — raw fish and seafood. Yellow — raw poultry. Green — salad, fruit and vegetables. Brown — cooked and ready-to-eat food. White — bakery and dairy. Purple — allergen-free preparation. Colour-coding for allergen control Cross-contamination is not only about bacteria. Traces of an allergen carried from one dish to another on a shared utensil or cloth can cause a serious reaction, and undeclared allergens are a frequent cause of food recalls. Colour-coding is one of the clearest ways to physically separate allergen-free preparation from everything else. Many kitchens reserve purple for allergen-free work: a purple board, knife, tongs and tub used only when preparing a meal for a customer with a food allergy or intolerance. Keeping that set physically apart, washed separately and stored on its own, sharply reduces the chance of a stray trace ending up on the plate. Colour-coding supports but does not replace the wider allergen system. Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL) under Standard 1.2.3 governs how the declared allergens are communicated, and staff still need to check ingredients, clean thoroughly between tasks and communicate clearly with customers about what a dish contains. What the Food Standards Code expects Food safety requirements in Australia sit under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Standard 3.2.2 (Food Safety Practices and General Requirements) requires businesses to take all practicable measures to prevent the contamination of food, which includes stopping cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods. Standard 3.2.3 covers food premises and equipment, including that equipment is kept clean and in a condition that does not contaminate food. The Code does not prescribe a specific colour scheme or even require colour-coding by name. It sets the outcome — food must be protected from contamination — and leaves the method to you. Colour-coding is simply one well-established, easy-to-audit way of demonstrating that raw and ready-to-eat foods, and allergen and non-allergen foods, are kept apart. Because the Code is adopted and enforced through state and territory legislation and local councils, specific expectations and inspection practices can vary by location. Confirm what your local council or state regulator looks for rather than assuming a single national checklist. Making the system stick A colour scheme printed once and forgotten protects no one. The system works when it is visible, trained and maintained as part of daily routine. Display a clear chart where prep happens, ideally with pictures of the actual equipment, so the code is always in front of staff. Buy enough of each colour so the correct item is always available. If a kitchen runs out of clean green boards, someone will reach for a red one, and one shortcut can undo the whole system. Adequate stock, plus washing and storing each colour separately, keeps the barrier intact between shifts. Build the code into induction and refresher training, and check it during routine walk-throughs. Worn, chipped or faded items should be replaced, because a scratched board is hard to clean and a faded handle is hard to identify. When colour-coding is treated as everyday practice rather than a poster on the wall, it becomes one of the most reliable defences a kitchen has. Checklist: A colour scheme is documented and covers every food type and cleaning zone in the kitchen. Boards, knives, tongs, cloths, buckets and tubs are all included in the system, not just boards. A colour chart is displayed where preparation happens, ideally with photos of the real equipment. Enough of each colour is stocked that a clean, correct item is always available. A dedicated colour (often purple) is reserved for allergen-free preparation and kept physically apart. Each colour is washed and stored separately to avoid transfer between zones. Colour-coding is covered in induction and refresher training for all staff. Chipped, worn or faded items are replaced promptly. Local council or state regulator expectations have been confirmed. Common mistakes: Colour-coding chopping boards but pairing them with a single all-purpose knife, moving the risk to the blade. Forgetting cleaning cloths and buckets, which spread contamination across benches and zones just as easily as utensils. Running out of a colour and improvising with the wrong one instead of stocking enough spares. Washing all colours together, so a clean item picks up traces from another food type. Treating the colour chart as a poster to display rather than a system to train and audit. Relying on colour-coding alone for allergens without checking ingredients, cleaning between tasks and communicating with customers. Keeping chipped or faded equipment that is hard to clean and hard to identify by colour.