Raw Meat and Ready-to-Eat Foods
Picture this: you’re rushing to put away groceries, and you stack that fresh deli meat right next to your raw chicken. Harmful bacteria present in raw meat and poultry and their juices can contaminate cooked food. What seems like innocent meal prep can actually turn into a dangerous bacterial party in your fridge.
The Food for Thought 2025 report shows a total of 1,392 Americans in 2024 became ill after consuming a contaminated food item, up from 1,118 in 2023. What’s more, the number of hospitalizations more than doubled, rising from 230 to 487, and deaths climbed from 8 to 19. This surge in foodborne illness highlights just how crucial proper food separation really is.
Raw meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat food unless you keep them separate. When grocery shopping, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from other foods. Even something as simple as placing raw meat on the top shelf can cause drips that contaminate everything below.
Eggs with Other Dairy Products
Eggs might seem harmless sitting next to your milk and cheese, but they’re carrying secrets that could make you sick. Another large outbreak in 2024 was traced to Salmonella in eggs. There were 93 confirmed patients, 34 of whom required hospitalization. The patients were spread across 12 states. This wasn’t some isolated incident—it’s a reminder that eggs can be silent carriers of dangerous bacteria.
In the fridge, keep eggs in their original carton and store them in the main compartment—not in the door. The door experiences temperature fluctuations that can create the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Plus, keeping eggs in their original carton prevents them from absorbing odors from other foods, which can actually indicate cross-contamination.
When you’re handling eggs, treat them like the potential hazard they are. Always wash hands after handling uncooked meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, flour, or eggs. That innocent-looking eggshell can harbor Salmonella that’s just waiting to spread to your other dairy products.
Fresh Produce Next to Raw Seafood
Your beautiful lettuce and tomatoes deserve better than being neighbors with raw fish. Foods that pose the highest risk of bacterial contamination include leafy greens, bean sprouts, leftover rice, unpasteurized milk, soft cheeses, and deli meats, as well as raw eggs, poultry, meat, and seafood. When these high-risk foods mingle, you’re essentially creating a bacterial buffet.
Cross-contamination occurs when juices from uncooked foods come in contact with safely cooked foods, or with other raw foods that don’t need to be cooked, like fruits and vegetables. The juices from some raw foods, like meats and seafood, can contain harmful bacteria that could make you and your family sick. That innocent-looking fish juice can turn your fresh salad into a one-way ticket to the emergency room.
Raw seafood is particularly notorious for harboring bacteria and parasites. Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood in sealed containers or wrap them securely so the juices don’t leak onto other foods. Use one cutting board or plate for raw meat, poultry, and seafood and a separate cutting board or plate for produce, bread, and other foods that won’t be cooked. The solution is simple: keep them apart, always.
Hot Foods Mixed with Cold Foods
Temperature abuse is one of the sneakiest ways to get food poisoning, and mixing hot and cold foods is like playing bacterial roulette. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 ° and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the “Danger Zone”. When you mix hot and cold foods, you’re creating the perfect storm for bacterial growth.
One of the most common causes of foodborne illness is improper cooling of cooked foods. Bacteria can be reintroduced to food after it is safely cooked. For this reason leftovers must be put in shallow containers for quick cooling and refrigerated at 40 °F or below within two hours. Adding hot food to cold food warms up the entire mixture, pushing it directly into that dangerous temperature zone.
Think about it this way: you’ve got leftover soup that you’re trying to cool down, and you decide to add some cold ingredients to speed up the process. Instead of helping, you’ve just created a breeding ground where bacteria can multiply faster than you can say “food poisoning.”
Leftover Rice with Fresh Ingredients
Rice might seem innocent, but it’s actually one of the most dangerous foods to mishandle. Reheated rice syndrome, or fried rice syndrome, is a type of food poisoning. When you mix day-old rice with fresh ingredients, you’re not just creating a meal—you’re potentially creating a bacterial disaster.
What’s more, leftovers kept in the fridge too long can result in bacterial overgrowth. Therefore, eat leftovers within 3–4 days and cook them to proper temperatures. Rice contains spores of Bacillus cereus, which can survive cooking and multiply rapidly when rice is left at room temperature.
The scary part? If you plan to mix leftovers with other foods, the new meal should not be stored again as leftovers. This means that innocent fried rice you’re making with yesterday’s rice and fresh vegetables needs to be eaten immediately or thrown away. The bacteria in the rice can contaminate the fresh ingredients, creating a perfect storm for illness.
Raw Flour with Wet Ingredients
Raw flour isn’t the harmless pantry staple you think it is. Always wash hands after handling uncooked meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, flour, or eggs. Notice how flour is grouped with all those other dangerous raw ingredients? That’s because flour can harbor E. coli and other harmful bacteria.
When you mix raw flour with wet ingredients like eggs or milk, you’re creating the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive. The moisture activates any bacteria present in the flour, and if the mixture sits around, those bacteria can multiply rapidly. This is especially dangerous if you’re making cookie dough or cake batter that might tempt someone to take a taste.
The solution isn’t to avoid baking—it’s to treat raw flour with the respect it deserves. Keep it separate from other ingredients until you’re ready to use it, and never let raw flour mixtures sit at room temperature for extended periods. Your taste buds might want that raw cookie dough, but your stomach definitely doesn’t.
Unwashed Vegetables in Storage Containers
You might think you’re being efficient by storing all your vegetables together, but unwashed produce can be a contamination nightmare. It is good practice to wash fruit and veg before use. This is to make sure they are clean and harmful bacteria can be removed from the outside. That dirt on your potatoes isn’t just unsightly—it can harbor dangerous bacteria.
Rinse fruits and vegetables under running water without soap, bleach, or commercial produce washes. Rinse fruits and vegetables before peeling, removing skin, or cutting away any damaged or bruised areas. When you store unwashed vegetables together, bacteria from one can easily spread to others, especially in the humid environment of your crisper drawer.
The problem gets worse when you mix unwashed root vegetables with leafy greens. Because bacteria can grow well on the cut surface of fruit or vegetables, be careful not to contaminate these foods while slicing them up on the cutting board, and avoid leaving cut produce at room temperature for many hours. That seemingly innocent carrot covered in soil can contaminate your entire lettuce supply.
Marinades Used on Raw and Cooked Foods
Reusing marinades is like playing bacterial telephone—the message gets passed along, and it’s never good news. Sauce that is used to marinate raw meat, poultry, or seafood should not be used on cooked foods, unless it is boiled just before using. That marinade that made your chicken taste amazing is now loaded with bacteria from the raw meat.
Reserve a clean portion of marinade for using on cooked meat, poultry, and seafood. To reuse marinade that held raw food, bring it to a boil before using it on cooked food. The bacteria in raw meat juices can survive in that flavorful marinade, just waiting for their chance to make someone sick.
Think of it this way: you’ve essentially created a bacterial soup that’s been sitting with raw meat. Using that same marinade on cooked food is like inviting trouble to dinner. The simple solution is to either reserve some marinade before it touches raw food or boil the used marinade to kill any harmful bacteria.
Dairy Products at Room Temperature
Dairy products are basically bacterial magnets when they’re not kept properly cold. That’s why the Meat and Poultry Hotline advises consumers to never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90 °F, food should not be left out more than 1 hour. Your milk, cheese, and yogurt are all ticking time bombs when left at room temperature.
For example, food safety experts recommend that you keep fresh poultry in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 days, while raw eggs in the shell can be kept in the refrigerator for a maximum of 5 weeks. But dairy products are even more sensitive to temperature abuse than most people realize.
Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the “Danger Zone” between 40°F and 140°F. Never leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F). That coffee creamer you left on the counter while making your morning coffee could be harboring dangerous bacteria by lunchtime.
Cutting Boards Used for Multiple Food Types
Your cutting board is like a bacterial highway—what happens on one side doesn’t stay on one side. Our recent study found that only 32% of people clean and sanitize the surface used to prepare raw meat. Washing countertops and sinks with hot, soapy water is one step that most people know. But that’s not nearly enough to prevent cross-contamination.
Use one cutting board for fresh produce or other foods that won’t be cooked before they’re eaten, and another for raw meat, poultry, or seafood. Using the same cutting board for raw chicken and then vegetables is like giving bacteria a direct pathway to your salad.
One study found that older participants were less likely to use soap and water to clean their cutting boards after working with raw meat, while younger people weren’t aware of the risks of cross contamination. The solution is simple: use separate cutting boards or wash thoroughly with hot, soapy water between uses. Your cutting board might look clean, but bacteria are invisible and persistent.
Food safety isn’t about being paranoid—it’s about being smart. Worse than the overall illnesses, instances of severe illness increased dramatically last year, as hospitalizations more than doubled from 230 in 2023 to 487 in 2024. This increase is worrisome, as severe illness can have long-lasting consequences: lifetime health conditions, distressed loved ones and families burdened by medical expenses. Sadly, deaths also more than doubled, from eight in 2023 to 19 in 2024. These simple storage and handling mistakes can have serious consequences that extend far beyond a few uncomfortable days. So next time you’re putting away groceries or preparing a meal, remember: when it comes to food safety, separation isn’t just good practice—it’s a matter of life and death.
