Home Food Safety
Step 2 of 4

Separate

Germs can spread from raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs to other foods. Keep them apart at every stage: shopping, storage, prep, and serving.

A young college student cutting fresh fruit on a green cutting board in his kitchen.

Give Raw Foods Their Own Space

Separation begins in the cart and carries through to the shelf your food sits on at home.

Keep raw apart from the start — in the cart, at home, and in the refrigerator: five steps to keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from other foods.

Keeping Ready-to-Eat Foods Safe

Foods eaten without cooking — sandwiches, deli meats, salads, cut fruit, cheese, and leftovers — need extra care to stay safe.

Things you eat that are not cooked: keep it cold, hands off, keep it separate, watch the clock, eat it in time, extra care if you’re at risk. When in doubt, throw it out.

Use the Right Board for the Job

Tools move germs around a kitchen faster than anything else. Decide in advance which board belongs to raw food.

One Color, One Job: red boards for raw meat, yellow for raw poultry, blue for raw seafood, green for produce and bread, and purple for allergen-free foods, with tips to use two boards at minimum, wash after every use, and replace worn boards.

Source: USDA FSIS, Cutting Boards and Food Safety

Plates, Utensils, and Marinades

  • Use separate plates and utensils for cooked and raw foods.
  • Never put cooked food on a plate that held raw food unless the plate has been washed with hot, soapy water first.
  • Do not reuse a marinade that touched raw food. USDA allows reuse only if you bring it to a full boil first; the simpler home rule is to make a fresh batch for serving.

The Simple Rule

Raw Below, Ready-to-Eat Above

Anything raw sits below anything that will be eaten without cooking. If a drip could land on it, move it up.