Friday, September 25, 2015

Cross-Contamination getting Crossed Out

By: Mason Hawk


There is always a risk of cross-contamination when dealing with raw meats in your kitchen. The process of preparing the meat can potentially lead to contaminated micro-organisms all over your kitchen! Well these nightmares may be resolved with the brilliant new cook-in-the-bag technology. Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds, you literally cook it in the bag. Research was conducted to investigate cross-contamination in domestic kitchens during poultry preparation. The poultry was inoculated with Pseudomonas fluorescens and given to six people. They were challenged to unpack, defrost, cut, and cook without contaminating the preparation area. After the task was completed the entire prep environment was tested for P. fluorescens strain including: the chopping board, knife blade, dishcloth, refrigerator handle, oven handle, oven buttons, draining board, tap, microwave handle, microwave buttons, plate, tinfoil and press handle before and after washing the area. This experiment was then repeated with the pre-cut cook-in-the-bag product. Results found that the cook-in-the-bag considerably reduced the occurrence of cross-contamination in domestic kitchens. The results also showed no significant opposing effect on taste.  So not only is it extremely convenient and tasty, but it is also a lot safer!


Bolton, D., McDowell, D., Meredith, H., & Walsh, D. (2014). Poultry Food Safety Control Interventions in the Domestic Kitchen. Journal of Food Safety. DOI: 10.1111/jfs.12092




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