Caution: Don’t Cross! Preventing Cross-Contact

What is it?

• Cross-contact is when you are exposed to an allergen, directly or indirectly
  • An allergen is something someone can be allergic to
  • The major eight allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, shellfish, soy, wheat, milk, and fish
• Cross-contact only makes people with the specific allergy sick

How does it happen?

• Using the same utensil in a food with an allergen and in a food without the allergen
• Not cleaning a surface after an allergen was there
• Making a food on the same equipment used to make food with the allergen (ex: manufacturing plant)
  • You can see if a food is made on the same equipment as a food with an allergen by looking at the bottom of a nutrition facts label
  • This is extremely important for people with sensitive allergies

How can you prevent it?

If you or someone in your family is allergic to a food:

• Avoid the use of foods containing the allergen
• Keep foods with the allergen away from foods that don’t contain the allergen
• Use separate dishes and utensils for foods with and without the allergen
• Clean surfaces and utensils with hot soapy water in between cooking foods with and without the allergen
  • Add a small amount of bleach or a disinfectant in the water for extra protection

**allergens are not always destroyed by cooking the food they are in, so it is important to keep them separate from non-allergen foods

See our post 5 Food Safety Mistakes for more tips on food safety.