Prevent Cross-Contamination

Here are some rules to prevent cross-contamination of food.

Identify separate parts of the work area for dealing with raw meat and poultry and foods which will be eaten without being subjected to any further cooking

This isn’t always feasible in a domestic environment, in which case you could use separate chopping boards for raw and for cooked food. At the very least boards which have been used for raw food should be thoroughly washed before being used again for cooked food.

Keep other raw foods away from food which may be contaminated

Use different refrigerators for storing raw and cooked foods

If only one fridge is available then keep raw foods on the lower shelves and the other foods above them. This reduces the risk of, say, juices from a raw chicken dripping onto cheese or cooked meat etc.

This is Chapter Three, Part Six in a series of articles broadly similar to the course offered by the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health for its Food Hygiene Certificate.
Part Seven: Some ways in which bacteria get into food
Return to the start of Chapter Three