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You don’t want to be the restaurant that is known for giving someone food poisoning. You want to be remembered for providing impeccable service, a clean environment, and delicious food. However, the risk of foodborne illness does exist. Sadly, 1 in 6 people in the United States catch a foodborne illness each year, with about 3,000 of those cases leading to death.

If a customer catches a foodborne illness at your restaurant, there is a good chance they will not return and will share their negative experience with others. This can damage your business’ reputation and impact your financial wellbeing. Therefore, it’s crucial to prevent foodborne illness caused by cross-contamination at all costs.

Foodborne illnesses are typically caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances that make their way into food. You can help prevent foodborne illness in your restaurant by taking the proper precautions. 

In this article and video, we’ll go over the best safety practices for reducing the risk of cross-contamination at your restaurant or foodservice establishment:

  1. Practice and Promote Proper Hand Hygiene 
  2. Clean and Sanitize Surfaces and Equipment
  3. Use the Proper Dish Machine
  4. Cook and Store Foods at Safe Temperatures
  5. Separate Raw and Cooked Foods
  6. Manage Allergens
  7. Provide Ongoing Food Safety Training
  8. Conduct Regular Inspections and Audits

The easiest way to help stop cross-contamination is by washing your hands regularly. To properly wash your hands, follow these steps, per the CDC:

  • Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold)
  • Apply soap
  • Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap
  • Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds
  • Rinse your hands well under clean, running water
  • Dry your hands using a clean towel or an air dryer

Proper handwashing should be practiced before eating, before and after handling raw food, after using the restroom, or when touching potentially contaminated surfaces. Employees should be educated on these protocols and encouraged to practice them consistently.

In addition to implementing strict hygiene practices, it’s important to keep kitchen surfaces and equipment clean. You want to first clean and then sanitize. 

Cleaning removes dirt, germs, and other impurities from surfaces, while sanitizing reduces the number of germs to a safe level. You want to make sure to use a food safe sanitizer, as not all sanitizers are approved for use on food contact surfaces and in food prep areas.

Commercial kitchen equipment should be cleaned and sanitized throughout the day, with additional cleaning done on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Here’s what to clean and how often:

  • Daily: Clean surfaces, utensils, appliances, walls, and floors. Focus on high-touch areas.
  • Weekly: Daily + Clean and sanitize reach-in coolers, de-lime sinks and faucets, clean coffee machines and ovens, as well as floors.
  • Monthly: Weekly + Deep clean food prep equipment, appliances, exhaust hoods and vents. Empty and clean freezers, ice machines, and dry storage areas. Clean walls and ceilings.
  • Yearly: Monthly + Clean the pilot lights and hoods.

Maintaining these cleaning practices will help keep your restaurant clean, safe, and sanitary, which helps prevent foodborne illness. 

When it comes to cleaning dishes, there are two main types of dish machines: high temp and low temp. 

A high-temp commercial dish machine will get dishes the cleanest. A high temp commercial dish machine washes dishes at 140-160+ °F and rinses them at 180-195 °F, allowing for the dish cycle to sanitize the wares without using a chemical dish sanitizer and achieve faster drying times.

High temp dish machines can also clean visibly soiled dishes that are coated in fat, grease, and tough soils. This means that though your dishes should always be rinsed before being loaded into the dish machine, the high heat can tackle any leftover soils on your wares.

A low temp dish machine uses chemicals, such as chlorine or iodine, to sanitize dishes at a lower temperature – usually around 120°F – which makes it more energy efficient. 

Low temp dish machines are best suited for applications where lighter soils are dominant. One benefit to using a low temp dish machine is that it doesn’t require a booster heater or vent hood.

Not sure which machine is right for your needs? Check out our article: How to Choose the Right Commercial Dish Machine for Your Business

Foodborne illness can also be prevented by cooking and storing foods at the proper temperatures. Cook all food to the minimum internal temperatures (usually between 145 °F and 160 °F),  as measured with a food thermometer before removing food from the heat source. 

These are the safe minimum temperatures for different types of food:

  • Beef, Pork, Veal & Lamb Steaks, chops, roasts – 145 °F (62.8 °C) and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes
  • Ground Meats – 160 °F (71.1 °C)
  • All Poultry (breasts, whole bird, legs, thighs, wings, ground poultry, giblets, and stuffing) – 165 °F (73.9 °C)
  • Ham, fresh or smoked (uncooked) – 145 °F (62.8 °C) and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes
  • Fully Cooked Ham (to reheat) – Reheat cooked hams packaged in USDA-inspected plants to 140 °F (60 °C) and all others to 165 °F (73.9 °C).
  • Eggs – 160 °F (71.1 °C)
  • Fish & Shellfish – 145 °F (62.8 °C)
  • Leftovers – 165 °F (73.9 °C)
  • Casseroles – 165 °F (73.9 °C)

Keep perishable items refrigerated until it is time to eat or serve them. Refrigerating perishable food slows the growth of bacteria that can cause food to spoil and get people sick.

Handling raw foods can increase the risk of cross-contamination if you don’t follow certain storage techniques.

Don’t store raw and cooked foods together, since the uncooked juices can contaminate the cooked food.

Always use a separate shelf in the refrigerator and place raw foods on the bottom shelf to prevent drips onto other foods.

All food in a walk-in cooler should have an internal temperature below 41º F and should be checked with a probe thermometer several times a day, since bacteria is able to grow and spread when temperatures enter the Temperature Danger Zone. The Temperature Danger Zone is 41ºF – 135ºF and the range where microorganisms grow fastest. This leads the saying, “keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot.”  Keep raw meats separate from fruits, vegetables, and ready to serve food. Raw meat should always be placed below ready to serve food in order to reduce the chance of contamination.

To review:

  • Store fruits and vegetables on the top shelf
  • Store cooked foods on the shelf below your produce
  • Store meat products on the bottom shelf 

Watch our video,”5 Tips for Storing Food in a Walk-In Cooler,” for more information on how to safely store and organize foods in your walk-in cooler. 

You also don’t want to mix utensils or cutting boards for raw and cooked foods. Keep everything separate and use a color-coded system if needed. You can take advantage of colored food labels to help you identify which foods have been cooked and which ones haven’t.

In addition to keeping raw and cooked foods separate, you can prevent foodborne illness by keeping allergens separate as well.

Use designated prep areas for allergen-free meals, and keep allergenic ingredients in separate, sealed containers that are clearly marked or color-coded.

By developing and implementing a comprehensive allergen control plan, you reduce the risk of cross-contact between common allergen foods.

It’s important to educate employees on food safety protocols with ongoing training. Posting signs in restrooms reminding employees to wash their hands is one way to keep hygiene at the forefront of the discussion. 

You also want to keep employees informed about new safety practices and regulations that might be presented during inspections throughout the year.

Even if you take all the proper precautions to avoid cross-contamination, regular audits and inspections are necessary for full compliance and to ensure you are adhering to the highest safety standards. Here are some of the things that will be inspected and checked during an audit:

  • Chemicals and food are kept separate
  • Raw meats and other uncooked foods are not stored above ready-to-eat items
  • Food is properly wrapped or containerized to prevent contamination
  • All food items are labeled with name and use by date
  • Refrigeration temperature is within food safe range (40°F or below)
  • All cooked foods are heated to the safe minimum internal temperature
  • All kitchen equipment and prep surfaces are clean and sanitized
  • Garbage is disposed of promptly and properly

A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan should be used to identify and control potential hazards throughout the food production process.


Final Thoughts

As a foodservice establishment, it’s your responsibility to maintain food safety practices in order to keep your customers and employees safe. By following the guidelines discussed in this article, you can help prevent cross-contamination and lower the risk of customers or employees taking home a foodborne illness. 

Make food safety a priority at your restaurant and you’ll keep customers coming back, employees from calling out, and revenue from dropping. 

If you have questions about food safety practices, reach out to the experts at Imperial Dade. Our team of food service experts can help provide training and recommendations for food safe products. 

Also, check out our YouTube channel for more resources and information about cross-contamination prevention and other food service topics. 

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