Contamination occurs when a harmful substance adulterates foods, making it unfit for consumption. What is cross-contamination? Cross-contamination typically involves the transfer of harmful bacteria from one food or another though physical contact. This type of contamination is almost always caused by humans as well as rodents and insects.
I know what you are thinking, Karley, that stuff only matters in restaurants. As Dwight Schrute from the office would say FALSE! This is essential information any person should know. Now is it necessary to know everything? No, not really, there are only a few things that every home cook should know.
First things first, what exactly does cross-contamination look like when you are cooking at home? There are a few issues that I have personally observed people do; that I just assumed was common knowledge not to do.
Soap and hot water
The most obvious way to cross-contaminate your food is by not properly cleaning your equipment after handling meats. These include equipment such as cutting board, knives, counters, and kitchen sinks. With cutting boards and knives, it is evident that you want to wash them after cutting any raw meat. Wiping them down with a wet rag IS NOT WASHING IT! it has to be with hot water and soap.
This goes for your counters, too, if you are working with raw meat that is particularly bloody or slimy. In most cases that I’ve seen, people ignore those liquids contaminating their counters and use a wet rag to clean it up. That’s gross people!! If you don’t think so, try swiping a cookie or piece of bread over that area after you wipe it, and try to eat it. Point being just wiping things down with a wet rag in not going to clean or sanitize your equipment or working area properly.
Besides washing your dishes and equipment, soap and hot water are also great for washing your hands. I know DUH, but did you know there is a correct way to wash your hands? If yes, sweet, look at you go! If not, then don’t fret I will explain it. When washing your hands, the water has to be hot, not hot like the fiery pits of hell, but ideally, it should be 100 degrees. No one expects you to measure the temp every time you wash your hands. It just has to be hot water, nothing uncomfortable just as much as you can handle.
Next, you want to make sure you wash your hands for at least ten seconds. If you have long nails, don’t forget to clean underneath; you will be surprised by the number of bacteria there is. So when do you have to wash your hands? After finishing a task and before starting a new one, of course, that is not implied only when cooking.
Washing
Washing your produce and raw meats is always a must because you never know what may be on it or who touched it. When washing your raw proteins one thing I constantly see is home cooks clean their proteins next to there clean dishes. There is so many ways you can contaminate your working area and dishes. Just keep in mind your surroundings and be careful when washing your proteins.
Moving on to your veggies one thing I cannot stress enough and tell everyone is to please wash your produce. Why? Imagine this, there is a person in the produce section walking around grabbing stuff putting it back because it is not what they were looking for. You then come along and grab some of the same products that the previous person touched. Let’s say it was some tomatoes, you slice them up without washing them put them in a sandwich and eat it. Harmless right? Wrong! little did you know the person before you scratched his butt (IN his pants) and touched the same tomato you just ate. GROSS! Just wash your produce you never know who and what has touched it.