Model for home kitchen cross-contamination developed

A new model  for determining the impact of cross-contamination routes in the home  kitchens has been developed  by Researchers in a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) program and then possible intervention methods were studied to work out their effectiveness.

It was found that the cutting board had the highest impact on cross-contamination compared to the other potential sources in the model.

Replacement of kitchen utensils was found to be the best cross-contamination intervention method.

The model will help risk managers and food safety information providers develop the best communication to reduce cross-contamination.

The model is able to estimate the level of bacteria that will reach the consumer with different scenarios and then what impact the various intervention methods like handwashing, and utensil replacement have on those levels.

The work was done at the Centre for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands.

An article about the research can be found at https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.e181106