What is cross contact? How does it happen?
Cross contact can occur in many different ways. It can be direct contact with an allergenic food or an indirect contact through an uncleaned utensil.
The chopping board colour-coding system used in food preparation significantly prevents the contamination of foods.
The chopping board colour-coding system used in food preparation significantly prevents the contamination of foods.
Designating specific colours for kitchen tools is an effective system that helps with food hygiene standards compliance. One of the most popular examples of the colour coding system is used in chopping boards.
Chopping board colours serve as a clear visual cue for staff to follow and promote safe and efficient food handling practices in commercial restaurants. The food industry in the UK uses a generally accepted system for colour-coding chopping boards.
In this article, we discuss the significance of chopping board colours and how your team can efficiently monitor food safety compliance using our digital platform.
WHAT WE'LL COVER:
In the UK food industry, coloured chopping boards are commonly used as a means of preventing food cross-contamination, with different colours such as white, yellow, blue, red, green, brown, and purple being assigned to specific types of food.
Using a correct colour-coded system for chopping boards is a practical yet very effective way to minimise food safety hazards in a professional kitchen. The system is part of the critical preventive controls for the food safety of a food business. It helps prevent harmful bacteria and major food allergens from spreading and causing serious allergic reactions in consumers.
However, it is important to note that no specific law requires a colour coding system for chopping boards in the UK.
Use our free Downloadable Chopping Board Colour Chart shown below to guide your team in using proper chopping boards during any type of food preparation.
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In this section, we will discuss the different chopping board colours and food combinations with the following topics:
Different restaurants in the UK use various systems for colour-coding their chopping boards. Food safety agencies in the country encourage using the coloured chopping board system, but there is no established food regulation for using them.
The main objective of this system is to minimise the risk of microbial cross-contamination among foods. Using a chopping board colour code can help kitchen staff identify the proper kitchen tools to use and prevent the spread of foodborne illness outbreaks.
This colour-coding kitchen equipment scheme is more elaborate and includes a dedicated board for allergen-free products.
We give more in-depth explanations further down. But in short, in the UK, a:
The recommended kitchen tool colour when handling raw meat is a red chopping board.
All types of raw meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, or lamb, can be prepared using a red board. Although, the red chopping board must still be properly cleaned with soapy water and sanitised in between use when used for different high-risk meat products (e.g., pork to chicken or vice versa).
Using a red chopping board specifically for raw meat can help immediately distinguish the proper kitchen tools and prevent the spread of harmful bacteria in the kitchen.
A blue chopping board is recommended when preparing raw fish, shellfish, other seafood, and related products. The blue colour makes it easier for you to see any residual scales or food parts that need to be removed.
Cooked meats, such as chicken and pork, are recommended to be prepared using a yellow chopping board. Cooked meat often still requires preparation after processing, such as when plating slices of steaks.
A good example of using a distinct cooked meat chopping board is when you are making a sandwich. The meat will require slicing for redistribution in the sandwich.
The yellow chopping board used for cooked food must not be used for partially cooked or ready-to-eat products like deli meat or sushi slices.
For preparing fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, you are advised to use a green chopping board. These products include leafy greens, apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers used when preparing a salad.
On the other hand, a brown chopping board is recommended for preparing unwashed root vegetables. This category includes potatoes, carrots, and turnips. Unwashed vegetables require cleaning as they often come with soil. A brown board will help keep the soil from spreading to other food ingredients.
It is important to remember that these chopping board colours must not be interchanged. Vegetables prepared on a green board require little to no cooking and will cause food poisoning if contaminated.
Baked goods and dairy products are recommended to be prepared using a white chopping board. Although bakery products are less likely to contain harmful foodborne pathogens, they may contain a lot of major food allergens. As such, a dedicated white board used for preparing bread products must always be available.
Similarly, dairy products, including different types of cheese, are often delicate and can be easily contaminated by other foods or bacteria. Using a designated board for these items helps to ensure that they are not exposed to any harmful bacteria or flavours that may affect their taste or texture.
The most widely used chopping board colour for free-form products is purple chopping board. "Free-from products" refer to foods that do not contain major food allergens, including gluten, soy, dairy, and nuts, and are often labelled as such to indicate that they are suitable for people with food allergies or intolerances.
Using a dedicated purple board for allergen-free products can help decrease the risk of cross-contact or the spread of allergens. Your employees must remember that purple cutting boards require strict sanitation in between use.
Use our Downloadable Free Food Allergen Chart to guide your employees who assigned to prepare allergenic foods.
Using a universal colour-coding system for chopping boards in a restaurant kitchen is a part of the food safety and hygiene system of a food business. Although simple, the coding system is a proven scheme that effectively prevents the spread of unwanted microbial contamination and other types of hazards.
Specifically, the importance of using coloured chopping boards can be summarised through the following points:
Maintaining proper use of the correct coloured chopping board set can significantly help a food business in controlling food safety. This system must be consistently monitored to ensure that it is consistently being followed. In addition to following the system, cleaning and sanitising the chopping boards after every use must also be followed to achieve the main objective of the colour-coding scheme.
Help your food safety team control the risk of food contamination and ensure food safety and hygiene compliance at all times using our smart Food Safety Management System. You get automatically generated, customisable monitoring logs and checklists that you can use to intuitively monitor food safety tasks, such as using colour-coded equipment.
The biggest risk in failing to use colour-coded boards properly is the occurrence of accidental cross-contamination and cross-contact. This scenario can cause a widespread case of food poisoning and an outbreak.
For example, if food handlers in a busy commercial kitchen use a single wooden chopping board to prepare chicken and vegetables, the likelihood of spreading pathogens from the raw poultry to the vegetables is very high. Vegetables require lower internal cooking temperatures than chicken; therefore, transferred pathogens can survive.
Another risk of not properly using colour-coded chopping boards is food spoilage. For example, cutting raw meat on a board that is also used for fruits and vegetables can cause the board to become contaminated with harmful bacteria. This can cause the fruits and vegetables to spoil faster, which can compromise the quality and safety of the food.
In addition to using coloured chopping boards, these kitchen tools must also be properly maintained. Worn-out chopping boards can promote physical contamination, especially if you are using old chopping boards. Some types of chopping boards can also be harder to clean.
Here are some useful tips for using and caring for chopping boards:
In addition to taking care of your kitchen equipment, food sanitation involves other essential tasks to control food safety hazards.
Download our free Restaurant Cleaning Checklist to make sure that every scheduled cleaning and sanitation task is followed and done on time.
Using colour-coded chopping boards is an important aspect of food safety in the kitchen. The system is also about following good practices, such as using separate boards for high-risk foods, allergen-free products, and specific tasks. The colour-coding scheme can be considered a valuable preventive control in your food safety plan.
With the help of FoodDocs, you can incorporate systems like the colour-coded chopping boards into your HACCP system. With the help of artificial intelligence, you will get a customizable and comprehensive HACCP plan template from our digital HACCP plan builder in just 1 hour. All parts of this automatically generated HACCP plan can be further customized to your business operations.
After setting up your digital HACCP plan, you can implement it right away. It's that easy!
To ensure that food handlers in your business will strictly follow the colour-coding system, use our HACCP-based intuitive Food Safety Management System.
Powered by artificial intelligence and a machine-learning program, our smart software can automatically generate the necessary food safety documents to help you maintain food safety compliance based on your HACCP system.
When you use our software, you can get the following benefits:
The essential checklists that you can get include the following:
Master sanitation schedule from FoodDocs
Sanitation and cleaning checklist from FoodDocs
Employee hygiene checklist in FoodDocs software
To help your team understand each food safety task, all logs and checklists come with a detailed set of instructions on how to use the log and perform the task. You can use this information to ensure that your team understands how to perform the operation. You can also upload your versions of the instructions as images or videos.
Digital Recipe Book in FoodDocs software
Get intuitive alerts using our mobile app equipped with a smart notification system. This program sends notifications to food handlers, reminding them of a task that is due. It helps to ensure that all food safety tasks are done on time.
Food safety managers can significantly benefit from our smart software. Our system also has features that can help in improving operation efficiency:
Real-time dashboard in FoodDocs software
Our system is designed to be adaptive to changes. You can easily apply revisions from inspectors or for general improvement by simply customising your monitoring logs. Your food safety managers can do this anytime once you have established your digital Food Safety Management System.
All it takes for you to set up your digital Food Safety System is to answer a few basic questions about your business. The whole process will only take approximately 15 minutes.
Become more sustainable by switching to our digital doos safety platform at FoodDocs. Our innovative software can help you maintain compliance with all the essential food safety regulations for your business.
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