This section has advice on the '4 Cs' of food hygiene - cleaning, cooking, chilling and cross-contamination.
This page gives practical tips for catering businesses on how to prevent cross-contamination.
For easy to use guidance on cross-contamination controls, required as part of a written food safety management system for your business, download the Safer Food, Better Business Pack.
Hygiene Advice for Food Handling
To avoid cross-contamination from bacteria spreading between food, surfaces or equipment, you should always:
Keep raw and ready-to-eat foods separate when they are stored, prepared and displayed
Clean surfaces and equipment thoroughly before you start to prepare food and after they have been used with raw food
Wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw food
An easy way to prevent cross-contamination is to use different chopping boards and different knives for raw and ready-to-eat food. Try using one colour for chopping boards and knives used with raw food and another colour for those used with ready-to-eat food.
Remember to keep raw food below ready-to-eat food in the fridge. Or use separate fridges for raw and ready-to-eat food, if possible.
Go to Related Pages for advice on effective hand washing for food handling staff, to avoid cross-contamination and causing food poisoning.
