Cross-contamination essentials
Cross-contamination is how harmful bacteria (like E. coli O157 and campylobacter) travel from raw food to food that will not be cooked again. It is the single biggest cause of serious food poisoning outbreaks — and it is prevented by habits, not equipment.
The one rule everything follows from
Raw and ready-to-eat must never touch — directly or indirectly. "Indirectly" is the part that catches people out: the same hands, board, knife, cloth, probe or fridge shelf can carry bacteria from raw chicken to a salad hours later.
Storage
- Raw meat, poultry and fish go below ready-to-eat food in the fridge — drips fall down.
- Keep raw food covered and in containers; never let packaging touch other food.
- If your kitchen has separate raw/ready-to-eat fridges or areas, respect them even when busy.
Preparation
- Use the separate boards and knives for raw food (usually red for raw meat) — and never swap mid-task.
- Wash hands thoroughly after touching raw meat, its packaging, or surfaces it touched — before you touch anything else.
- Wipe the probe with a probe wipe between raw and cooked food. Every time.
- Clean and sanitise surfaces after raw prep before any other use — see the cleaning module.
Cloths — the forgotten carrier
A cloth used on a raw-prep surface then wiped over a serving counter has just done the bacteria's travelling for it. Use disposable cloths where you can, change reusable ones frequently, and never let a raw-area cloth leave the raw area.
Check your understanding
Raw chicken was prepped on the only free counter. What must happen before the counter is used for sandwiches?
Clear it, wash it with hot soapy water, then sanitise it and allow the sanitiser its contact time — and wash your hands before touching the sandwich ingredients.
Where does raw mince belong in a shared fridge?
On the bottom shelf, covered, below anything ready-to-eat — so nothing can drip onto food that will not be cooked again.
You probed a raw burger, then need to probe a cooked one. What comes in between?
A probe wipe (or washing and sanitising the probe). Probing raw then cooked with a dirty probe re-contaminates the cooked food.
Doing this as part of your job?
If your workplace uses Localyn, ask your manager for your personal training link — completing modules through it records the training in the store's food safety evidence automatically. Managers: issue links from the Training page in your dashboard.
See it working before you sign up
Walk through a sample store with realistic demo data — no login required — or start a 1-month free trial and set up your first site with Localyn.