Cross-contamination

How it is used

A key word in hygiene training and plant design. Classic examples are raw meat juices dripping onto ready-to-eat food, or using the same knife for both. Factories prevent it with separate high-risk and low-risk areas, color-coded tools, a one-way flow of people and materials, and cleaning.

Example sentences

1. Use the red boards for raw meat only to avoid cross-contamination.

2. The new wall between the raw and cooked areas reduced the risk of cross-contamination.

Common collocations

• prevent cross-contamination
• risk of cross-contamination
• allergen cross-contact
• color-coded equipment
• high-risk area

Related terms

• contaminationThe presence or entry of something harmful or unwanted in food, such as microorganisms, chemicals, allergens or pieces of glass, metal or plastic.
• allergenA substance, usually a protein, that can cause an allergic reaction in sensitive people, sometimes a severe one, even in very small amounts.
• hygieneThe conditions and practices, such as cleaning, handwashing and protective clothing, that prevent food from being contaminated by people, equipment or the environment.
• sanitationThe cleaning and sanitizing of equipment, surfaces and the whole plant so that dirt, food residues and microorganisms are removed or reduced to safe levels.
• pathogenA microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus or parasite, that can cause disease in people who eat or drink a contaminated product.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• cross-contamination · Culinary Arts & Cooking

More terms: Food Safety and HACCP

• food safety
• HACCP
• critical control point
• hazard analysis
• critical limit
• corrective action
• monitor
• foreign body
• pest control
• prerequisite program