Separating Raw and Ready-to-Eat Food

Keep raw and ready-to-eat food apart to stop harmful bacteria and allergens moving from one to the other. In practice that means storing raw meat, poultry and seafood below and away from ready-to-eat food, prepping them at different times or on different benches, and using dedicated boards, knives and utensils. Get storage order, prep separation and equipment right and you close the most common path to foodborne illness in an Australian kitchen. Key takeaways: Store raw meat, poultry and seafood below and away from ready-to-eat food so drips can never fall onto food that won't be cooked again.. Separate raw and ready-to-eat prep in space (different benches) or in time (clean and sanitise thoroughly between tasks).. Use dedicated or colour-coded boards, knives and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat food to stop bacteria and allergens transferring.. Keep everything covered and labelled, and cool food quickly so separation is not undone by poor storage.. Wash and sanitise hands, surfaces and equipment whenever you switch between raw and ready-to-eat tasks.. Fridge storage order (top to bottom): Shelf position, What goes there, Why. Top — Ready-to-eat food: cooked items, salads, dairy, desserts — No further cooking, so must never receive drips. Upper middle — Raw whole cuts of red meat — Lower risk than poultry or mince. Lower middle — Raw fish and seafood — Kept below ready-to-eat, above highest-risk items. Bottom — Raw poultry and raw mince — Highest risk and highest cook temperature, so lowest. Why separation matters Raw meat, poultry, seafood and unwashed produce often carry harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria. Cooking to a safe core temperature (around 75°C) destroys these bacteria, but ready-to-eat foods, such as cooked meats, salads, sandwiches, sushi, cheese and desserts, get no further cooking step. If bacteria move from raw food onto ready-to-eat food, there is nothing left to kill them before the food reaches your customer. This is cross-contamination, and it is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness. The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code requires food businesses to take all practicable measures to protect food from contamination. Separation also protects people with food allergies: traces of an allergen carried on a shared board or knife can trigger a serious reaction, so the same discipline that controls bacteria also helps control allergen cross-contact. Get your storage order right Gravity is the enemy in a fridge or cool room. Juices from raw meat, poultry and seafood can drip down onto whatever sits below, so the order in which you stack shelves matters. As a general rule, store ready-to-eat food at the top and raw food at the bottom, and always keep raw and ready-to-eat items physically apart in sealed containers. Within the raw items, the safe cooking temperature gives you the order: foods that need the highest cook temperature go lowest, because a drip from them onto a lower-temperature item is the bigger risk. Top shelves: ready-to-eat foods, cooked items, salads, dairy, desserts and anything served without further cooking.. Middle: raw whole cuts of red meat and raw fish where practical.. Bottom shelves: raw poultry and raw mince, which carry the highest risk and need the highest cook temperatures.. Keep all food in clean, covered, food-grade containers so drips are contained even if the order is disturbed.. Never store raw food above ready-to-eat food, even briefly, and keep raw and ready-to-eat items in separate fridges or cool rooms where you have them.. Separate prep in space and time Separation is not only about the fridge; the prep bench is where most cross-contamination actually happens. There are two practical ways to keep raw and ready-to-eat preparation apart: separate them in space, or separate them in time. Larger kitchens can dedicate different areas or benches, one for raw protein and one for ready-to-eat work, so the two never share a surface. Smaller kitchens that cannot spare the space separate the tasks in time: do all your ready-to-eat prep first, when surfaces are freshly cleaned, then move on to raw food, and thoroughly clean and sanitise everything before switching back. The order matters, ready-to-eat before raw, because it reduces the chance of contaminating food that will not be cooked again. Space: dedicate separate benches or zones for raw and ready-to-eat prep where your layout allows.. Time: prep ready-to-eat food first, then raw, cleaning and sanitising between.. Never rest ready-to-eat food on a surface that has just held raw meat, poultry or seafood without cleaning and sanitising first.. Keep raw and ready-to-eat food covered while it waits, and minimise the time food spends between 5°C and 60°C using the 2-hour/4-hour guide.. Use dedicated equipment Boards, knives, tongs, containers and even scales can carry bacteria and allergens from raw food to ready-to-eat food. The simplest control is dedicated equipment: separate boards and utensils that are only ever used for one type of food. Many Australian kitchens use a colour-coded chopping board system to make this obvious at a glance and to make mistakes easy to spot. Colour coding is a widely used industry convention rather than a legal requirement, so choose a scheme, document it, and train everyone to use it consistently. Whatever system you use, equipment must be cleaned and sanitised between uses, and boards that are deeply scored or cracked should be replaced because grooves harbour bacteria that cleaning cannot reach. A common colour scheme: red for raw meat, blue for raw fish, yellow for raw poultry, green for salad and fruit, brown for cooked meat and white for dairy and bakery.. Keep separate knives, tongs and containers for raw and ready-to-eat food, and store them apart so they are not mixed up.. Clean then sanitise all equipment between tasks; cleaning removes food and grease, sanitising reduces bacteria to a safe level.. Replace boards and utensils that are cracked, scored or worn, as damaged surfaces cannot be effectively sanitised.. Run reusable equipment through a commercial dishwasher or use a food-grade sanitiser at the correct contact time and concentration.. Handling, covering and labelling Separation is easily undone by careless handling. Hands are a direct route for bacteria and allergens, so wash them thoroughly whenever you move between raw and ready-to-eat tasks, and change disposable gloves at the same points, gloves are not a substitute for handwashing. Cover food to protect it from splashes, dust and drips, and keep raw and ready-to-eat items in clearly labelled, sealed containers so staff can tell them apart at a glance. Good labelling with contents and dates also supports stock rotation, so older food is used first and nothing sits contaminating a shelf longer than it should. Wash and dry hands between handling raw and ready-to-eat food, after handling waste, and after touching your face or phone.. Change gloves when switching tasks; do not wear the same gloves for raw and ready-to-eat work.. Cover and seal all stored food in food-grade containers, and label with contents and a date.. Use separate cloths or single-use paper for raw and ready-to-eat areas, and never wipe a ready-to-eat surface with a cloth used on raw juices.. Deliveries, thawing and display The risk of mixing raw and ready-to-eat food does not start and end at the prep bench. At delivery, check that raw and ready-to-eat items are packaged separately and put them away in the correct storage order straight away, keeping cold food at or below 5°C. Thaw frozen raw meat and poultry in the fridge on the bottom shelf, in a tray that catches any liquid, never on a bench above other food or alongside ready-to-eat items. On display and at service, keep raw and ready-to-eat products in separate cabinets or clearly divided sections with their own serving utensils, so a customer or staff member cannot use the same tongs across both. Checklist: Ready-to-eat food is stored above raw food, with raw poultry and mince at the bottom.. All food is covered, in food-grade containers, and labelled with contents and dates.. Raw and ready-to-eat prep is separated by bench or by time, ready-to-eat first.. Dedicated or colour-coded boards, knives and utensils are in use and understood by staff.. Equipment and surfaces are cleaned then sanitised when switching between tasks.. Hands are washed and gloves changed between raw and ready-to-eat handling.. Frozen raw food is thawed in the fridge on the bottom shelf in a drip tray.. Cold food is held at or below 5°C and the 2-hour/4-hour guide is applied to food out of temperature control.. Common mistakes: Storing raw meat or poultry above ready-to-eat food, so juices can drip down.. Using the same chopping board or knife for raw chicken and then salad without cleaning and sanitising.. Thawing raw meat on a bench or in a sink above or beside ready-to-eat food.. Relying on gloves instead of washing hands when switching between raw and ready-to-eat tasks.. Wiping a ready-to-eat surface with a cloth that has been used on raw meat juices.. Leaving food uncovered so splashes and drips can transfer bacteria between items..