What is Cross Contamination?
Cross-contamination occurs when bacteria and viruses are transferred from a contaminated surface to another surface that has not been exposed to contamination. Cross-contamination is a key word for foodborne diseases and food poisoning. Cross-contamination has four main sources: Foods, people, equipment and work areas.
Food
Raw and spoiled foods may contain harmful bacteria. for example, raw meat may naturally contain high amounts of harmful bacteria that may form the basis of foodborne diseases such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria.
If careful bacteria are not treated, these bacteria can easily be transmitted from raw food to cooked and ready-to-eat food. Some examples are:
With the wrong preservation, the blood or juice of raw meat may drip onto cooked foods such as salami, sausages, or ready-to-eat foods such as salads, pastries.
If raw and cooked foods are used together to prepare sandwiches and mixed salads, harmful bacteria are easily transported from these greens to other foods (such as meat, cheese and eggs).
People
Harmful bacteria can live in and on the human body. especially in the hands and face area and clothing. However, they do not cause diseases because of their low rates. If these bacteria are contaminated by food from the body or clothing and there are conditions that are susceptible to growth, these foods become unsafe for consumption.
Equipment
Bacteria can survive and multiply in cracks and crevices of equipment. Of these equipment, they can especially live on the surface of cutting boards. After the equipment has been used, some parts of food carrying bacteria may remain on the surface of the equipment. If these equipment are not washed properly, the bacteria can be transported to other foods for later use.
Working places
Work areas such as table surfaces are in constant contact with people, raw foods, uncleaned equipment or other things such as cardboard placed on the floor. If the desks are not cleaned properly, the food placed on them can easily become contaminated.
Types of cross contamination:
- Food contamination from staff
- Food-to-food contamination
- Contamination from the surface in contact with the equipment or food
Especially in the studies carried out in businesses;
- Packages placed on the counter,
- Fridge etc. Refrigeration equipment,
- Simultaneous cutting of more than one type of food on the same cutting board,
- Do not wash hands before using gloves,
- Disinfection of work benches,
- Disinfectant concentrations are not at the correct concentration and
- Cross-contamination caused by failure to reach final rinse temperature.
At this stage, it is important to prepare standard operating procedures to prevent cross-contamination. The focus should be on;
- Personnel hygiene
- Accept goods
- Storage of food and chemicals
- Preparation
- Equipment and uses
- Cleaning and sanitation
Personnel hygiene: It should be ensured that the personnel should wash their hands especially when the duty or type of work changes, the use of gloves regularly and the use of cloths to wipe the hands or dirty foods should be avoided.
Acceptance of Goods: In this case raw and ready-to-eat foods should be kept separately at the time of delivery.
Storage of Food and Chemicals: Storage of raw meat and cooked or ready-to-eat foods in separate cabinets, if possible, storage of raw meat in the same cupboard under cooked or ready-to-eat foods, such as good wrapping (stretching) of foods, etc. should be kept at least 15 cm above, avoid storing in stacks, and certain persons should be allowed to enter the stores.
Chemicals should be stored in a separate and locked area, if possible, and separated from food, if possible.
Preparation: Frequent work benches and instrument equipment should be cleaned and disinfected. Apart from these, cutting boards should be cleaned between each use, gloves should be changed frequently, hands should be washed properly, food to be stored should be covered and eating should be avoided in working areas.
Equipment: There must be separate cutting boards for raw and cooked or ready-to-eat foods, if this is not possible, the use of different products should include documentation on how to use the same equipment. infrared thermometers should be used, it is recommended to clean high-risk areas before low-risk areas during cleaning. Especially if the same cleaning equipment will be used, employees should use each washbasin in accordance with the intended use to prevent contamination, plastic bags and foils should not be reused.
Cleaning and Disinfection: Buckets designed for cleaning and disinfection should be used, the concentration of sanitation solutions should be checked frequently and the sanitation solution should be changed frequently.
Cross-contamination Rules
- Foods that will be offered for direct consumption should not come together with raw products.
- Foods that will be offered for direct consumption and raw foods should be stored in separate places.
- Separate equipment should be used for direct consumption and raw foods.
- Wash your hands thoroughly if you are going to process food that is offered for direct consumption after touching raw foods or equipment used in raw foods.
- If possible, do not touch the foods that are to be consumed directly, or treat them with a disposable glove.
- Make sure that the equipment you use is clean and sound.
- Do not keep the garbage in the production and storage area for a long time.
- Protect against the entrance of insects, rodents and all kinds of pests in the production and storage area.
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