Wondering what colour you should pick for a chopping board for chicken? And what about vegetables? Unsure what yellow cutting boards are used for? And why do you need to use them in your commercial kitchen?
Then keep on reading. We’ve put together a complete food safety guide on colour-coded chopping boards to answer all your questions, covering everything from universal colour codes to your HACCP documentation.
Preventing Cross-Contamination: Why Do You Need Colour-Coded Chopping Boards?
Avoiding cross-contamination is a key aspect of preventing foodborne illnesses.
Cross-contamination is defined by the UK Food Standards Agency as “what happens when bacteria or other microorganisms are unintentionally transferred from one object to another”.
The most common instance of cross-contamination happens between raw and ready-to-eat foods, which is why it’s so critical to handle them carefully and keep them separate.
If you cut raw poultry on a chopping board and use it for preparing a salad afterwards without cleaning/disinfecting it, bacteria will spread from the poultry to the chopping board and the salad.
Did you know? Harmful bacteria can come from different sources such as raw meat, eggs, fish or even unwashed vegetables.
There are many simple food preparation and handling practices that can help prevent cross-contamination. Using colour-coded chopping boards is one of them.
Having distinct coloured utensils, plates and chopping boards for different types of food products helps prevent harmful bacteria from spreading. It is also beneficial in terms of preventing allergen contamination.
Implementing an effective, universal colour-coded system limits different types of food to chopping boards of specific colours.
Kitchen Chopping Boards: Different Colours for Food Groups & What They Mean
Certain colours are generally associated with specific food groups:
- Yellow: cooked meat
- Red: raw meat
- Blue: fish
- Brown: vegetables
- Green: fruit, herbs and salads
- White: bread and dairy products
Widely known and accepted, this universal colour-coding system helps minimise risk and is easy for your team to learn. By utilising a single colour for a particular food group, you can ensure that your kitchen equipment does not become contaminated.
New starters in your business? Having trouble remembering all coloured chopping boards and their uses? Displaying a food hygiene colour-coding chart sign near the preparation area in your kitchen can help your busy team to remember what each colour should be used for when needed, making a great visual aid.
If you want to gain a better understanding of the benefits of colour coding, check out this article.
Cooked Meat: What Yellow Chopping Boards Are Used For
Yellow chopping boards should be used for cooked meat. Do not use the same cutting board for cooked and raw meat as this can lead to cross-contamination of food.
The yellow chopping board can be used for cutting cooked chicken, for instance. Your team should refrain from using it for other food products like fish.
Raw Meat: What Red Chopping Boards Are Used For
If you are preparing raw meat and poultry, you should use a red chopping board.
Raw meat may carry bacteria such as E. coli, which is why using a separate cutting board to prepare it is key to preventing cross-contamination (and foodborne illnesses).
Raw Fish: What Blue Chopping Boards Are Used For
Blue chopping boards should be used for raw fish and shellfish. This could include, for instance, salmon, tuna and mussels.
Vegetables: What Brown Chopping Boards Are Used For
If you are preparing vegetables (in particular unwashed root veggies), you should use a brown chopping board. This is great for potatoes, carrots or even beetroot.
Some root vegetables may still have some soil/dirt on them. Using a separate cutting board can help avoid contamination of other foods.
Salads, Herbs & Fruits: What Green Chopping Boards Are Used For
Preparing washed salad vegetables, herbs or fruits? Then you should opt for a green cutting board.
Food examples: tomatoes, peppers, coriander, bananas, apples, mangoes, etc.
Dairy & Bread: What White Chopping Boards Are Used For
White chopping boards are generally used for bakery and dairy products like cakes, bread or cheese.
Always remember to thoroughly wash your cutting boards in-between uses to prevent allergen contamination.
Can You Use Other Colours?
You can use different colours from the ones mentioned above as long as you ensure they are appropriately (and hygienically) used for separate food groups. You should record your chosen colours in your Food Safety Management System and ensure that your staff is informed.
In general, however, it is a good idea to keep to the universal colour-coding system as it is widely known and used, which helps reduce errors and minimise risk.
For dietary restrictions: It’s becoming increasingly popular to use purple chopping boards for free-from products such as gluten-free items. Be careful when it comes to handling allergens and make sure you’ve got safety procedures in place to handle them.
For sushi restaurants: you’ll want to use designated cutting boards for preparing sushi/sashimi. This should be done in a separate area of the kitchen. Sushi/sashimi is considered to be a high-risk food as it is raw food that does not undergo any cooking processes to kill bacteria.
What Are The Benefits of Colour Coding?
Implementing a colour-coded system for your kitchen equipment is an easy way of preventing cross-contamination, which is a key aspect of food safety.
Kitchen and hospitality environments can be very hectic. Having a colour-coded kitchen makes it easy to identify equipment quickly, which helps ensure food is prepared in a safe manner.
- Helps prevent cross-contamination
- Makes it easy for staff to quickly identify chopping boards they should use
- Helps identify areas of higher or lower food safety risk
Cutting Boards: What EHOs Will Look For During an Inspection
According to the FSA, you should “use different equipment (including chopping boards and knives) for raw meat/poultry and ready-to-eat food unless they can be heat disinfected in, for example, a commercial dishwasher”.
When an EHO inspects your establishment, they’ll assess the methods you are using to prevent contamination of food (e.g. bacterial). They’ll look at how hygienically you are handling and preparing food, and if you are taking all necessary precautions to avoid cross-contamination.
To avoid cross-contamination, you should prepare your products on the relevant colour-coded chopping boards. You’ll want to make sure that these are in good condition and are kept clean too.
Keeping ready-to-eat and raw food separate is vital to prevent harmful bacteria from spreading.
Your colour-coding and food separation practices should be outlined in your Food Safety Management System (based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point – HACCP).
Preparing for an inspection – here are some self-assessment questions to ask yourself and your team:
- Do you have separate preparation areas for raw and ready-to-eat foods?
- Do you use colour-coded equipment to help avoid cross contamination?
- Do you keep a record of your colour-coded practices in your HACCP plan?
- Do you make sure that different colour-coded cutting boards are used for distinct food groups?
- Do you keep your cutting boards clean and in good condition?
- Does the whole team know which chopping boards to use for each food group?
Colour-coding is an affordable way to help prevent cross-contamination and demonstrate that you are taking steps to reduce food safety risks.
Choosing & Purchasing The Right Colour-Coded Equipment
When choosing your colour-coded cutting boards, make sure to consider the following aspects:
- The products are food safe
- The products are made from high-quality, non-porous materials
- The products are easy to wash and disinfect
- You are buying from a trusted supplier
Remember – you shouldn’t use wooden cutting boards in your commercial kitchen. Wood can absorb juices from raw meat, which can lead to harmful bacteria growth that can spread to other foods.
If you’re looking to purchase high-quality options, take a look at our colour-coded chopping boards from Klipspringer. They’re considered to be compliant with legal requirements in partnership with BRCGS.
Klipspringer is a trusted supplier of thousands of food-grade solutions, supporting food and beverage businesses all over the UK. Their cutting boards are approved for food contact and made from hard wearing, heavy-duty polyethylene. Furthermore, they are resistant to chemicals and feature great non-stick properties.
With excellent rigidity and strength, Klipspringers colour-coded cutting boards are ideal for general high-impact use and are available in white, red, green, yellow and blue.
Here at Complete Safety Supplies, we stock a wide range of kitchen supplies and food safety equipment to suit your hospitality business needs. We also stock other kitchen colour coded supplies, including bins, mop systems and even allergen spillage kits.
If you need food safety advice or consultancy, we can also help. We’ve got a team of food hygiene specialists with decades of experience in the industry who can provide assistance with anything from site audits and training to HACCP documentation and certification.
References
Avoiding cross-contamination, Food Standards Agency, Accessed in March 2022
Avoiding cross-contamination in your food business, Guidance on how to prevent cross-contamination, Food Standards Agency, Accessed in March 2022
Safe Production of Sushi, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Accessed in March 2022
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