The Food Safety AppThe seven cross-contamination safe methods
Seven methods, which with cooking makes this the joint second largest section of the pack behind management, and the one whose methods a kitchen is most likely to think it already knows. All seven are about the same thing: stopping something harmful moving from where it is to where it must not be.
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This is one of the five sections of the 31 safe methods. Its subject is movement: raw food to ready-to-eat food, a cloth to a worktop, a pest to a store room, a chemical to a pan, an allergen to a plate.
What each one asks you to write down
| Safe method | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Separating foods | Preventing harmful bacteria spreading from raw foods to ready-to-eat foods. |
| Personal hygiene | Handwashing is one of the best ways to stop bacteria and viruses spreading. |
| Cloths | Dirty cloths spread bacteria and allergens very easily. A hot wash cycle cleans them thoroughly and kills bacteria. |
| Pest control | Pests carry harmful bacteria. |
| Maintenance | Structural damage makes premises harder to clean, attracts pests and dirt, and lets harmful bacteria collect. |
| Physical and chemical contamination | Keeping cleaning chemicals, glass and packaging out of food. |
| Food allergies | Stopping small amounts of a food somebody is allergic to getting into a dish accidentally, which could prove fatal. |
Two that are not where people look for them
Maintenance is here, not under cleaning. It reads like a cleaning job and it is not: a cracked wall or a failing seal is a route for pests and a place for bacteria to collect, which is a contamination problem with a builder’s answer.
Food allergies is here too, and that is the clearest signal of what this section is about. An allergen does not have to be an ingredient to be on the plate; it only has to have travelled. The separate allergen chart records what is in each dish, and this method is about what must not get into it.
Handwashing, meanwhile, is not here. It sits under cleaning, while personal hygiene stays here, which is a finer distinction than most kitchens would draw and is the pack’s.
What the app does with them
Each sheet in the app is the FSA’s own sheet, transcribed question by question, and it prints back onto the FSA’s published form. Completing one stamps the date and the initials of whoever signed it, and those stamps are what fill in the completion record at the front of the pack.
Sheets are versioned, which matters more than it sounds. When the FSA revises a method, a sheet you completed against the older wording is flagged as stale and asks to be read and re-confirmed rather than quietly continuing to count. A method you have marked as not relevant to your business is left alone, because a rewrite of a method you do not use changes nothing for you.
Questions
Is cross-contamination only about raw meat?
No. Raw meat to ready-to-eat food is the best known route, and the section also covers cloths, pests, structural damage, cleaning chemicals and allergens. Four of its seven methods have nothing to do with raw meat.
Why is food allergies a cross-contamination method?
Because an allergen reaching a dish by accident is contamination. The method is about keeping a trace of it out; the allergen chart is about recording what is deliberately in.
Do I have to complete all seven?
Only the ones that apply to how your business works, and the completion record has a column for marking a method not relevant. Your local authority has the final say on your food safety management system.
Keep reading
Seven methods, signed and dated
Free on iOS and Android, onto the FSA’s own sheets.