Preventing Cross-Contamination in a Commercial Kitchen

Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw food away from ready-to-eat (RTE) food at every stage: use separate, colour-coded boards and utensils, store raw meat below RTE food, wash and sanitise hands and surfaces between tasks, and design a one-way workflow from raw to cooked. Under Australia's Food Standards Code these separation controls protect food from bacteria, allergens and physical hazards. Key takeaways: Keep raw food and ready-to-eat food separated at every stage — storage, prep, cooking and service.. Store raw meat and poultry below ready-to-eat food in the fridge so juices can't drip down.. Use colour-coded boards and utensils, and clean and sanitise between raw and RTE tasks.. Design a one-way workflow so food moves from raw to cooked without doubling back.. Manage allergen cross-contact as its own hazard — a clean-looking board still carries allergens if not properly washed and sanitised.. What cross-contamination is (and the three types) Cross-contamination is the transfer of harmful bacteria, allergens or foreign matter from one food, surface, person or piece of equipment to another. It usually happens when raw food touches ready-to-eat (RTE) food directly, or indirectly via hands, boards, knives, cloths or splashes. Because RTE food won't be cooked again to kill bacteria, contamination at this point goes straight to the customer. Biological: bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria moving from raw meat, poultry or unwashed produce to RTE food.. Chemical/allergen: an allergen (e.g. peanut, gluten, egg, milk) or a cleaning chemical transferring to a food it wasn't meant to be in.. Physical: foreign objects like glass, metal, packaging or hair entering food.. Separate raw and ready-to-eat food Physical separation is the single most effective control. Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood and unwashed produce well away from cooked and RTE foods during delivery, storage and prep. Never let a surface, utensil or hand that has touched raw food touch RTE food without a full wash and sanitise in between. Where possible, dedicate separate benches, sinks and equipment, or separate tasks by time and clean thoroughly between them. The Food Standards Code (Standard 3.2.2, and Standard 3.2.2A for many food service and catering businesses) generally requires you to take all practicable measures to protect food from contamination — confirm exactly what applies with your state or territory food regulator and local council. Use separate preparation areas for raw and RTE food where space allows.. Keep raw and RTE food in covered, labelled containers so nothing touches or drips.. Don't rinse raw chicken — splashing spreads bacteria around the sink and bench.. Use a separate hand basin for handwashing; never wash hands or equipment in a food-prep sink.. Colour-coded boards and utensils Colour-coding chopping boards, knives and tongs makes separation visible and easy for busy staff to follow. It is a widely used industry system rather than a specific legal colour scheme, so pick a scheme, document it, and train everyone to it. A common Australian hospitality convention is below, but the important thing is consistency, not the exact colours. Red — raw meat. Blue — raw fish/seafood. Yellow — cooked meat. Green — salad, fruit and vegetables. Brown — root vegetables. White — bakery and dairy. Purple — often used for allergen-free preparation. Correct fridge and cool-room storage order Store food top-to-bottom by the cooking temperature it still needs, so anything that drips falls onto food that will be cooked more (or is already raw), never onto RTE food. Keep RTE and cooked food on the top shelves and raw meats on the bottom. Always keep food covered and labelled, and don't overload shelves — air needs to circulate to hold safe temperatures (cold food generally at 5°C or below). Top shelf: ready-to-eat and cooked food, and desserts.. Middle: raw fish and seafood, then raw whole cuts of red meat.. Bottom shelf: raw minced meat, sausages and raw poultry (highest risk).. Store raw food in sealed containers or trays that catch any drips.. Keep raw and RTE food in separate fridges or cool rooms where you can.. Design a one-way workflow Lay out prep so food flows in one direction — from raw receiving and storage, through preparation, to cooking, then to RTE plating and service — without crossing back over 'dirty' zones. This 'linear flow' reduces the chance that raw food, its packaging or the hands that handled it contaminate finished dishes. In small kitchens where one bench does everything, separate the jobs by time: prep RTE food first, then raw, then clean and sanitise thoroughly before switching back. Map your benches into raw, cooking and RTE/plating zones.. Move waste and dirty packaging out on a path that doesn't cross clean food.. Plate and garnish RTE food away from raw prep splash zones.. If sharing a space, do RTE tasks before raw and clean down in between.. Cleaning, sanitising and personal hygiene Even with good separation, contamination spreads through hands, cloths and surfaces. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm running water and dry them after handling raw food, before handling RTE food, and after any break, toilet visit or waste handling. Clean surfaces to remove visible soil, then sanitise to reduce bacteria — cleaning and sanitising are two different steps and both are needed. Use single-use paper towel or colour-coded cloths; a re-used wet cloth spreads bacteria across surfaces.. Follow the correct sanitiser contact time on the label — wiping it straight off doesn't work.. Cover cuts with a brightly coloured waterproof dressing and change gloves between raw and RTE tasks.. Keep chemicals stored away from food to avoid chemical contamination.. Managing allergen cross-contact Allergen cross-contact is a distinct hazard: a board or utensil can be free of bacteria but still carry enough of an allergen to cause a serious reaction, and cooking does not destroy a