Cross Contamination… What In the World Does That Mean?
By Emily Thoene, RD
Have you ever given an in-service to kitchen staff and asked the question, What is cross contamination? Likely, you will get glances of confusion or the example “Don't use the same cutting board for raw meat and ready-to-eat food” but is there more to this question than that?
We will see there is so much more!
What is Cross Contamination?
Cross-contamination is the transmission of bacteria to food from other foods, equipment, surfaces, or hands.
But First Why Does It Matter?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die”. How many of these cases would have been prevented if safe practices had been followed? Now these statistics come from the general public but our Residents generally have weakened immune systems so they can become sick more easily and take longer to get back on their feet which may result in the need to go to the hospital. We need to help keep our Residents healthy, and do our part to help keep our food safe by preventing safe food from being contaminated by harmful organisms!
Examples of Cross Contamination in the Kitchen
Diet Aid cleans off dirty dishes in the dish room and then without hand washing, stacks clean trays.
Cook checks cell phone and then without hand washing, handles food.
Diet Aid with clean hands carries clean plates pressed against their uniform.
Staff washes dishes and without hand washing uses scissors in a clean preparation area.
Staff washes hands and because paper towels were empty, wipes hands on apron.
Diet Aid opened the kitchen door and then touched the food-end of a utensil.
In all of these examples, a dirty item or hand is touching a clean item or food and passing harmful organisms to the clean item. Below are some ways to help prevent cross contamination.
Some Tips to Keep Food Safe
Remember to clean, clean, clean! Wash hands, wash and sanitize surfaces before and after use, and make sure utensils been properly cleaned,
Keep raw meat and ready-to-eat foods separate,
Make sure the thermometer has been sanitized before using on food,
If someone touches hair, face, uniform, or cell phone they need to wash hands before continuing work,
Always wash hands when entering the kitchen or touching any dirty items.
All of these quick actions seem small and insignificant but they can impact every Resident who eats food prepared in the kitchen. So, we need everyone to have an eagle eye and be an expert in spotting cross-contamination to help keep our Residents happy and healthy!
