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 occurs when contaminated hands handled cooked or ready toCross-contamination is a common contributing factor for food poisoning outbreaks. Cross-contamination from raw food can occur directly from contaminated food to other food, or indirectly by contaminated hands, equipment, work surfaces, utensils or splashes to other food.
What are the 4 types of contamination?Food manufacturers must do everything possible to avoid contamination and produce safe products, knowing the dramatic consequences if they don't. There are four types of food contamination: physical, biological, chemical and allergenic. This blog explains these categories and provides tips on how to avoid them.
What is hand to food cross contamination?Cross-contamination is what happens when bacteria or other microorganisms are unintentionally transferred from one object to another. The most common example is the transfer of bacteria between raw and cooked food. This is thought to be the cause of most foodborne infections.
What are the 3 types of cross contamination?There are three main types of cross contamination: food-to-food, equipment-to-food, and people-to-food.
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