Cross contamination is when harmful bacteria are accidentally transferred from raw food to ready-to-eat food. Most cases of food poisoning are caused by bacteria from raw food coming into contact with food that is ready to eat.
Follow these five rules to prevent it happening in your kitchen. Research done by safefood has turned up some startling evidence with regard to handwashing:
Just think about where your hands have been and where and what they will touch. 2. Handle raw meat packaging just as carefully as the meat itselfHarmful bacteria such as E.coli can last on your food packaging for up to 24 hours. These bacteria can be transferred quite easily to other kitchen surfaces and also to hands and other kitchen surfaces such as worktops and press handles. Research by the Food Standards Authority of Ireland found that 13% of chicken packaging was contaminated with Campylobacter.
3. Don't assume that your work surfaces are bacteria free, just because they look cleanBacteria like Campylobacter can last on kitchen surfaces for up to 1 hour and E.coli can last for up to 24 hours. safefood research found that:
It's always good practice to wash worktops and cutting boards with hot soapy water after preparing foods, especially after preparing raw meat, poultry, seafood or raw vegetables. Always clean as you go between preparing these foods and especially when handling raw foods and then handling ready to eat foods. 4. Wash your kitchen utensils after each useThe study done by safefood found that:
Scrub all kitchen utensils thoroughly in plenty of clean hot soapy water or in a dishwasher, particularly after using them to prepare raw meat or poultry. 5. Don't use dishcloths for more than two days in a rowRinsing dishcloths under the tap does not remove germs. Dishcloths that are used for more than two days tend to have high levels of bacteria. Food poisoning bacteria can survive and grow on dishcloths, particularly when the cloth is damp. Dishcloths are usually stored crumpled up, so they stay wet and often contain larger numbers of bacteria. Of the dishcloths tested in the safefood survey, E.coli was present on 27.5% and Listeria was present on 13.5% of them.
Related pages What methods can be used to protect ready toSafe food storage and display
keep raw foods and ready-to-eat foods separate, to avoid cross-contamination. store food in clean, food-grade storage containers. don't store food in opened cans. make sure food storage containers have not been used to store things other than food, and wash and sanitise them before use.
How can you protect ready toThe avoidance of direct hand contact with ready-to-eat foods is one way to protect the food from contamination. Arizona State Health Code states that there should be no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. Gloves and other barriers do not replace handwashing.
What gloves do you use for ready toThis is called cross-contamination. Disposable gloves worn during preparation of raw foods, such as uncooked meat and poultry, must not be used to prepare ready-to-eat food. Use raw food gloves just for raw foods and ready-to-eat food gloves just for those foods.
How do you protect food from contamination after it is cooked?Use a food thermometer, keep food hot after cooking (140˚F) and microwave food thoroughly (165˚F) to ensure food is safe to eat. Refrigerate promptly: illness-causing bacteria can grow in perishable foods within 2 hours unless you refrigerate them.
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