Food Protection Trends - January/February 2015 - 19

food containers (e.g., salt shakers, oil bottle), wash rags, and
cloth hand towels. Twenty-nine percent (16/56) of subjects
started meal preparation by first washing the raw poultry
in the sink. Each of these washes resulted in contamination
of hands, sinks and the surrounding counter top surfaces.
Figure 1 summarizes the frequency and items cross-contaminated during raw poultry handling. Items that were
most frequently cross contaminated by hands were handles (e.g., of cabinets, drawers, or appliances), making up
35% (806/2281) of total cross-contamination events. The
next four most frequently contaminated items were hands
(15%), reusable food containers (12%), faucet handles
(11%) and utensils (7.6%). Lack of proper hand washing
contributed to 85% of total cross-contamination events
(1947/2281).
While cutting boards are often suspected of contributing
to cross-contamination events, none of the subjects were
observed to reuse a cutting board that was previously used
to prepare raw poultry for handling ready-to-eat foods,
without first washing them. Nevertheless, mishandling of
contaminated cutting boards (e.g., turning a board over to
use the "clean" side) can result in cross contaminating hands
and counter top surfaces.
During the course of meal preparations, there were
355 instances where subjects were observed touching
their hair, mouth, face or other body parts. Seventy-one
percent of participants were observed touching bare body
parts during the course of meal preparation (40/56), with
frequency of touching ranging from 1 to 47 times (Avg.
17, SD = 12).

Final meal and cook temperature monitoring
Five percent (3/56) of subjects took final cook temperature of cooked meals, and all the meals had achieved the
recommended temperature of 165°F. On the other hand,
43% of the households reported owning a thermometer and
25% (12/46) reported checking final cook temperatures.
However, all subjects checked the inside of the meat for
color and consistency before eating or serving.
Overall, 82% (46/56) of the meals were directly or
indirectly handled with contaminated hands or utensils. In
addition, during the course of preparing meals, 43% of subjects (24/56) were observed eating or drinking foods (e.g.,
chips), while preparing meals without first properly washing
their hands or after touching contaminated surfaces.
Among those households that prepared side dishes
(n = 26), 58% prepared their side dishes during the same
time the main dish was being prepared, and 35% (9/26)
prepared side dishes after the dish was prepared. The mean
number of cross-contamination events for those that did
not prepare side dishes at all (n = 30), and those that prepared them before (n = 2), during (n = 15) and after (n =
9), were 35, 30, 53 and 70, respectively. There is a statistically significant difference in the frequency of cross-contamination events between those that did not prepare side
dishes at all (n = 30) and those that prepare side dishes
during or after the main meals (t-test, P = 0.026). There was
no significant difference in the frequency of cross contaminations observed between those who prepared side dishes
during and after the main meals (t-test, P = 0.438).

900

806

800
700
600
500
400

339

300
200
100
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278

252
174

136
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FIGURE 1. Frequencies of observed cross-contamination events for contact surfaces
Note: Handles include drawers, cabinets and appliances

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# of Cross
Contamination

Food Protection Trends

19
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Food Protection Trends - January/February 2015

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