← Back to Techniques
🧊Food Safety & Storage
Preventing Cross-Contamination
A core technique for separating raw and ready-to-eat foods and properly sanitizing work surfaces.
Steps
•
Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat, fish, vegetables, and ready-to-eat foods.
•
Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw foods.
•
Clean and sanitize countertops, knives, and boards after each stage with kitchen-safe products.
•
Keep raw ingredients covered and physically separate from cooked foods during prep.
•
Use clean plates for serving; never place cooked food on dishes used for raw food.
💡Pro Tips
- •Color-coded cutting boards reduce confusion while cooking.
- •Replace cloths and sponges frequently because they can become contamination sources.
- •Organize workflow from clean/ready foods toward raw foods, not the reverse.
⚠️Common Mistakes
- •Using the same unwashed knife between raw meat and salad vegetables.
- •Relying only on water rinsing without detergent or sanitizing.
- •Touching handles, phone, or seasonings with contaminated hands spreads microbes.
