Cross-contamination of food – London Borough of Bromley This leaflet is for all food businesses, including those involved in catering, food production, food preparation, retail premises, restaurants, pubs, cafes, and fast-food shops. What is cross-contamination? Cross-contamination describes the transfer of harmful micro-organisms on to high-risk food.
- High-risk food is generally described as food that has been processed (cleaned or cooked) to make it safe and that won’t need any more processing before it’s eaten.
- The most common type of cross-contamination is from raw food to ready-to-eat cooked food – either hot or cold.
- Cross-contamination can happen in a number of ways: Direct cross-contamination – allowing raw food that has food poisoning bacteria on it to touch cooked or ready to eat food.
Indirect cross-contamination – where something helps the organisms move from one place to another. We call these ‘vehicles’ of contamination. Just as you would get in your car or on a bus to travel from one place to another, micro-organisms will hop on to something to travel from raw to cooked food.
- This is called the route of contamination.
- Common vehicles of contamination include food-preparation surfaces, chopping and cutting boards, knives and utensils, cloths and hands.
- Raw food dripping on to cooked food can also cause contamination.
- This often happens in the fridge where food is uncovered and raw food is placed above cooked food.
Why does it matter? Cross-contamination is a very common cause of food-related illness. By law, food handlers must protect food from contamination of any kind, including harmful micro-organisms (pathogens) that cause food poisoning. We can’t see these organisms with the naked eye, which can make them hard to control.
- The best approach is to expect all raw foods to be contaminated and process them to reduce the bacteria to a safe level.
- Your food safety management system will help you to identify these hazards and the controls you will need to use to keep the food safe.
- You can control contamination by getting rid of the source (the place the micro-organisms came from) or ‘breaking the chain’.
This means putting something between the source, the vehicle and the food. Most of the controls you will use are general ones and apply to all food preparation and service areas. Training food handlers Training food handlers is a very important part of preventing cross-contamination.
- This should stop cross-contamination due to dripping or direct contact with other food.
- Ideally, separate fridges should be used for storing raw food and ready-to-eat food.
- Keep raw and cooked foods separated You should think about your work flow, which means the way you process food through your system from its raw to cooked state.
The best way you can control this is by keeping raw and cooked foods apart. This could mean having completely separate work areas or preparation surfaces (such as tables and cutting boards).
- However, if you don’t have much room this may not always be possible, so you would then control contamination by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting all contact surfaces, utensils and equipment between tasks, and especially if you are moving from handling raw to cooked food.
- Cleaning Your premises and equipment should be easy to clean and disinfect (hard, smooth surfaces are best), and they should be designed without any areas where food debris and waste could build up.
- You must also clean your cleaning equipment such as mops, brooms and cloths.
Cloths used in the food prep area can be a problem. You won’t clean anything with a dirty cloth or remove micro-organisms – you will just spread them around. You need to decide which kinds of cloths you will use. You could use different coloured cloths for different areas or jobs – this is called colour coding.
- Disposable cloths should be used for tasks that involve raw meat and fish and they should be thrown away after you have used them once, or change them if you use reusable cloths.
- You must change any reusable cloths regularly and they must be thoroughly hot washed, rinsed and dried before you use them again.
Keep food handling to a minimum You should plan to make sure food is handled as little as possible. You should use utensils rather than your hands, but always use different ones for raw food and cooked food – you may also want to colour-code them. This should also apply where you are handling meat products and vegetarian foods You should consider using disposable gloves.
- Hand-washing facilities Hands are the most frequently used utensil in a kitchen.
- As the ‘business operator’, you must provide a separate hand wash basin with hot and cold running water, soap, preferably liquid, anti-bacterial and a method of hand drying, preferably paper towels.
- You must check that all of these are being used and that food handlers are washing their hands properly – not just rinsing them under the cold tap.
- Show food handlers how to wash their hands properly, and check that they do so.
- Food waste disposal Clean as you go.
- You should get rid of raw food waste, such as vegetable peelings and meat scraps, and thoroughly clean and disinfect anything they have been in contact with.
- If your work space is untidy, with both raw and cooked foods in the same area, there will be an increased risk of cross-contamination.
More information You will find further guidance in our other leaflets on this website. Information can also be found on the website.
- Alternatively, contact your local environmental health service for advice.
- Please note This leaflet is not an authoritative interpretation of the law and is intended only for guidance.
- © 2023 itsa Ltd.
: Cross-contamination of food – London Borough of Bromley
Contents
What best describes contamination?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For substances secretly mixed to another, see Adulterant, Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc.
What is the best definition of contamination with regards to food safety?
This issue of Foods is dedicated to discuss the microbial, chemical and physical contamination challenges of food products. Food contamination is generally defined as foods that are spoiled or tainted because they either contain microorganisms, such as bacteria or parasites, or toxic substances that make them unfit for consumption.
- A food contaminant can be biological, chemical or physical in nature, with the former being more common.
- These contaminants have several routes throughout the supply chain (farm to fork) to enter and make a food product unfit for consumption.
- Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum, C.
perfrigens, Pathogenic Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholera, V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus and Yersinia enterocolitica are common bacterial hazards (a type of biological contaminant).
- Chemical food contaminants that can enter the food supply chain include pesticides, heavy metals, and other alien chemical agents.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized food contamination as a global challenge in several documents and reports,
- It is clearly acknowledged in a statement: “food contamination that occurs in one place may affect the health of consumers living on the other side of the planet”,
In fact, a vast majority of people experience a foodborne or waterborne disease at some point in their lives worldwide. Therefore, consumption of contaminated foods causes illness in millions of people and many die as a result of it. This scenario makes “food contamination” a serious issue.
The list of food contamination challenges is very long and keeps growing. I would list three challenges, fresh produce contamination, antibiotics in food products and intentional contamination of foods, to highlight the importance of this topic. Contamination of fresh produce is emerging as a major food safety challenge.
A recent report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) showed that the highest number of outbreaks was attributed to produce as a single commodity in the USA during 2002–2011, Similarly, produce caused the greatest number of illnesses and the largest average number of illnesses per outbreak.
- This is a global trend and can be seen in examples of recent outbreaks: an outbreak of E.
- Coli O157:H7 after eating contaminated packaged baby spinach in the EU (2006); E.
- Coli in cucumber outbreak in Germany and other EU countries (2011); an outbreak of Cryptosporidium infection traced to bagged salads in the UK (2012); an outbreak of L.
monocytogenes due to contaminated prepacked salad products (2016), and a Salmonella outbreak linked to lettuce in pre-packaged salads in Australia (2016). The emergence of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) is now accepted a potential threat to both public and environmental health and the WHO has already proposed a global strategy to address the challenge,
Publications describing the association and prevalence of ARB in food products are common now. Previously the clinical arena was the major culprit; however, the overuse of antibiotics in food production is making the situation more complicated. In brief, foods contaminated with ARB are going to be a major food safety issue in the future.
Intentional contamination of foods and food products is also a growing global concern. Intentional food contamination refers to the deliberate addition of a harmful or poisonous substance to food products. It is a criminal act and also known as food fraud.
- Foods that have been intentionally contaminated are unsafe to eat and can make consumers seriously ill.
- Therefore, it is also equally important to address the challenge of fraudulent food contamination.
- Finally, I would emphasize that ensuring the supply of safe food products is important to protect public health and the food industry.
Food safety is generally compromised when food products get contaminated with a potentially hazardous and toxic agent. The food industry faces many global, as well as regional, contamination issues, existing and emerging, at all times, and continues to address them through scientific and technological developments.
What is perhaps the most common vehicle of contamination?
Answer: hands are in direct contact with food, they are the most common vehicle for transferring food poisoning bacteria, hands need to be kept clean at all times.
What does types of contamination mean?
There are three different types of food contamination – chemical, physical and biological. All foods are at risk of becoming contaminated, which increases the chance of the food making someone sick. It’s important to know how food can become contaminated so that you can protect against it.
What is another term for contamination?
Some common synonyms of contaminate are defile, pollute, and taint. While all these words mean ‘to make impure or unclean,’ contaminate implies intrusion of or contact with dirt or foulness from an outside source.
What are the 3 main types of contamination?
Here are the three types of contaminants: Biological: Examples include bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and toxins from plants, mushrooms, and seafood. Physical: Examples include foreign objects such as dirt, broken glass, metal staples, and bones. Chemical: Examples include cleaners, sanitizers, and polishes.
How is contamination defined by the food Standards Code?
Contaminant means any biological or chemical agent, foreign matter, or other substances that may compromise food safety or suitability. contamination means the introduction or occurrence of a contaminant in food.
What is the term for food contamination?
Understanding terms – The term “food poisoning” is commonly used to describe all foodborne illnesses. A health care provider might use these terms to be more specific:
“Foodborne illnesses” means all illnesses from any contaminated food or beverage. “Food poisoning” means illness specifically from a toxin in food. Food poisoning is a type of foodborne illness.
What are the 4 main contaminants?
The Four Types of Contamination – There are four main types of contamination: chemical, microbial, physical, and allergenic. All food is at risk of contamination from these four types. This is why food handlers have a legal responsibility to ensure that the food they prepare is free from these contaminants and safe for the consumer.
How do you identify contamination?
Knowing what to look for – Bacteria and fungi have a strong presence in nature, and grow extremely fast in culture. So, although the threat of contamination from these microorganisms is ever-present, you can easily spot their presence by the turbidity of the growth medium or the floating, branching mycelia.
What is contamination and examples?
Different Types Of Contamination, Causes And Prevention For Pharmaceutical Industry The presence of unwanted materials such as dust and particles during the manufacturing and transportation time is called contamination. The term contaminants includes any unwanted matter that is found in the product.
- Physical contamination. Examples: fiber material, particles, chips from your,
- Chemical contamination. Examples: vapor, gasses, moisture, molecules.
- Biological contamination. Examples: fungus, bacteria, virus.
Cross contamination is possible when the unwanted matter is introduced or brought from one process to the next during manufacturing. A leak in the holding containment would contaminate the product inside it; this would be an example of physical contamination.
- For chemical contamination, an example would be when the product is stored in a container that previously held another product, but was not properly cleaned.
- The remaining product’s chemical composition may add impurities to the new product, causing it to become contaminated.
- For biological contamination, bacteria may thrive if the container is not properly cleaned and dried.
The contaminated container will then affect the product and microbes may thus be introduced to the batch. Causes of Biological Contamination:
- Unhygienic and unsanitary practice
- Improper work attire
- Use of contaminated materials and equipment
- Open wounds or lesions in operators
- Operators suffering from infectious disease
Prevention of Contamination:
- Determine the cause of the contamination
- Anticipate the effect
- Prevent any ingress and egress
- Minimize the effects and quarantine the area
- Control the remaining contamination
Process of Elimination:
- Eliminate the source material
- To remove the contaminant carrier:
- Reduce human involvement
- Regulate the use of the equipment
- Regulate the use of air
- Regulate the use of water
- To reduce human carrier risk:
- To reduce water as carrier:
- As water is the number one source for cross contamination, it is important to reduce and prevent water contamination
- Water borne contaminants: particulates (such as minerals) and pathogens (e. coli, salmonella, etc.
- Use of preventive measure such as filtration devices, distillation or reverse osmosis, UV treatments
- To reduce air as carrier:
- Control air flow through AHUs
- Use of air locks
- Installation of HEPA filters
- Ultra-Low Particulate Air
Ensure that proper attire is worn when coming and going from the production area
Tips to Prevent Contamination
- Test one material at a time to prevent cross contamination
- Take a sample in a room that has a suitable air control system to prevent contamination through airflow
- Use proper tools designed for the product
- Ensure proper to prevent any biological contamination
- Regularly check if the cleaning process is effective
- Regularly check equipment for wear and tear to prevent any compromise to its integrity
- Properly design airflow system to prevent airflow contamination
- Dispensing stations should have proper dust extraction system
- Do not return used samples to their original containers
- Regularly monitor water to check for presence of microbial system
- Avoid charging two materials at a time
- Avoid unloading different materials for different batches
- Line clearance must be observed during product changeover
- Total impurity must not exceed 0.5% and single individual impurity not more than 0.1%
We at LFA Tablet Presses don’t only, We also support our customers in setting up their business. Contamination can be a really big problem in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. If you need help with reducing contamination please do get in contact with us.
There are several ways to prevent cross contamination during production and below are some ways to do so. Before starting, line clearance should be performed as per the SOP of the company. Do a checklist and record. Check to see if any starting materials are missing, previous record documents, product residues and product itself.
Food Safety Level 2 Section 4 Unit 1 Types of Contamination
Practice a closed system when handling the materials. A Mix–Up may be defined as:
- An unplanned combination of various compounds.
- A mistake brought about wrongly identifying one material for another.
A mix-up can be caused by bad judgement or lack of attention to detail, i.e., human error. It can also occur though poor communication between personnel. : Different Types Of Contamination, Causes And Prevention For Pharmaceutical Industry
What is an example of a contaminant?
Examples of chemical contaminants include the following: mycotoxins. heavy metals – lead and mercury. organic pollutants – dioxins.
What is the scientific term contamination?
Contamination. The soiling or pollution by inferior material, as by the introduction of organisms into a wound or sewage into a stream. Origin: L. Contaminatio from con =together – tangere = to touch.
How does contamination happen?
Cross-Contamination –
Food and kitchen tools and surfaces may become contaminated from raw food products (i.e., meat and poultry). Microbes can be transferred from one food to another by using the same knife, cutting board or other utensil without washing the surface or utensil in between uses. A food that is fully cooked can become re-contaminated if it touches other raw foods or drippings from raw foods that contain pathogens. Prevent Cross-Contamination Cross-contamination is the physical movement or transfer of harmful bacteria from one person, object or place to another.
What is the source of contamination?
Food Contamination Sources Food products are rich in nutrients required by microorganisms and may become contaminated. Major contamination sources are water, air, dust, equipment, sewage, insects, rodents, and employees. Contamination of raw materials can also occur from the soil, sewage, live animals, external surface, and the internal organs of meat animals.
Additional contamination of animal foods originates from diseased animals, although advances in health care have nearly eliminated this source. Contamination from chemical sources can occur through accidental mixing of chemical supplies with foods. Ingredients can contribute to additional microbial or chemical contamination.
Contamination can be reduced through effective housekeeping and sanitation, protection of food during storage, proper disposal of garbage and litter, and protection against contact with toxic substances.
What is contamination and examples?
Different Types Of Contamination, Causes And Prevention For Pharmaceutical Industry The presence of unwanted materials such as dust and particles during the manufacturing and transportation time is called contamination. The term contaminants includes any unwanted matter that is found in the product.
- Physical contamination. Examples: fiber material, particles, chips from your,
- Chemical contamination. Examples: vapor, gasses, moisture, molecules.
- Biological contamination. Examples: fungus, bacteria, virus.
Cross contamination is possible when the unwanted matter is introduced or brought from one process to the next during manufacturing. A leak in the holding containment would contaminate the product inside it; this would be an example of physical contamination.
For chemical contamination, an example would be when the product is stored in a container that previously held another product, but was not properly cleaned. The remaining product’s chemical composition may add impurities to the new product, causing it to become contaminated. For biological contamination, bacteria may thrive if the container is not properly cleaned and dried.
The contaminated container will then affect the product and microbes may thus be introduced to the batch. Causes of Biological Contamination:
- Unhygienic and unsanitary practice
- Improper work attire
- Use of contaminated materials and equipment
- Open wounds or lesions in operators
- Operators suffering from infectious disease
Prevention of Contamination:
- Determine the cause of the contamination
- Anticipate the effect
- Prevent any ingress and egress
- Minimize the effects and quarantine the area
- Control the remaining contamination
Process of Elimination:
- Eliminate the source material
- To remove the contaminant carrier:
- Reduce human involvement
- Regulate the use of the equipment
- Regulate the use of air
- Regulate the use of water
- To reduce human carrier risk:
- To reduce water as carrier:
- As water is the number one source for cross contamination, it is important to reduce and prevent water contamination
- Water borne contaminants: particulates (such as minerals) and pathogens (e. coli, salmonella, etc.
- Use of preventive measure such as filtration devices, distillation or reverse osmosis, UV treatments
- To reduce air as carrier:
- Control air flow through AHUs
- Use of air locks
- Installation of HEPA filters
- Ultra-Low Particulate Air
Ensure that proper attire is worn when coming and going from the production area
Tips to Prevent Contamination
- Test one material at a time to prevent cross contamination
- Take a sample in a room that has a suitable air control system to prevent contamination through airflow
- Use proper tools designed for the product
- Ensure proper to prevent any biological contamination
- Regularly check if the cleaning process is effective
- Regularly check equipment for wear and tear to prevent any compromise to its integrity
- Properly design airflow system to prevent airflow contamination
- Dispensing stations should have proper dust extraction system
- Do not return used samples to their original containers
- Regularly monitor water to check for presence of microbial system
- Avoid charging two materials at a time
- Avoid unloading different materials for different batches
- Line clearance must be observed during product changeover
- Total impurity must not exceed 0.5% and single individual impurity not more than 0.1%
We at LFA Tablet Presses don’t only, We also support our customers in setting up their business. Contamination can be a really big problem in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. If you need help with reducing contamination please do get in contact with us.
There are several ways to prevent cross contamination during production and below are some ways to do so. Before starting, line clearance should be performed as per the SOP of the company. Do a checklist and record. Check to see if any starting materials are missing, previous record documents, product residues and product itself.
Food Safety Level 2 Section 4 Unit 1 Types of Contamination
Practice a closed system when handling the materials. A Mix–Up may be defined as:
- An unplanned combination of various compounds.
- A mistake brought about wrongly identifying one material for another.
A mix-up can be caused by bad judgement or lack of attention to detail, i.e., human error. It can also occur though poor communication between personnel. : Different Types Of Contamination, Causes And Prevention For Pharmaceutical Industry
What is the best definition of contamination quizlet?
Contamination. Presence of unwanted microorganisms on inanimate objects or on various body surfaces ; in laboratory situations the presence of microbes in specimens.