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Cleanliness and maintenance are key to preventing microbial cross-contamination from cutting, chopping and serving boards.
Avoid cross-contamination
Keep food separate
Cooked and ready-to-eat food must be kept separate from raw food, which may contain bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
Always use separate equipment and utensils for raw foods and cooked or ready-to-eat foods, or thoroughly clean and sanitise between uses.
Never cut ready-to-eat food, such as bread or salad, on a board that has been used to prepare raw meat, poultry or seafood without washing and sanitising the board first.
Maintain condition
Food should not be prepared or served on boards with deep gouges and cuts because of the risk of cross-contamination from hidden bacteria and viruses. These lacerations can cause bacteria to become trapped and cross-contaminate food.
If cutting or serving boards cannot be effectively cleaned and sanitised because of damage, they should be replaced with new boards.
All cutting boards should be replaced periodically due to inevitable wear. If you’re ever in doubt about a board’s condition, it’s best to throw it out.
Cleaning, sanitising and protecting boards
Boards used to prepare food must be washed with hot soapy water and rinsed with clean water before being sanitised.
To wash properly, pay attention to any grooves, scratches, gauges and cuts.
After cleaning, both wooden and plastic boards can be sanitised.
When sanitising using chemicals, always follow the chemical manufacturer’s instructions. Further advice is in the fact sheet Chemical sanitisers - advice for food businesses (PDF, 231.46 KB)
Ideally, wooden cutting boards should have a smooth, hard surface and rounded corners that will not chip or crack. They should be dense enough to resist slice marks that harbour bacteria and be easy to clean.
It may be worthwhile to use an oil or wax treatment for the wooden board to prevent water absorption, mould growth and germs, and to stop food particles becoming lodged on the surface.
Colour-coded cutting boards
Using separate colour-coded cutting boards for different ingredients is one way to help prevent cross-contamination.
It doesn’t matter which colours you use, but staff must be trained in, or have knowledge on, which colour cutting board is used for each purpose. Displaying signs or posters in the kitchen with this information makes it available to everyone.
Common uses within the food industry are:
- Blue: Raw fish
- Red: Raw meat
- Yellow: Raw poultry
- Green: Fruit and vegetables
- White: Bakery and dairy
- Brown: Cooked meat