Can raw and cooked proteins touch on a prep line?
Placing raw seafood or meat right next to cooked or par-cooked items creates an immediate risk of cross-contamination from dripping juices or being dragged across surfaces. This makes it impossible to safely maintain food prep flow without violating basic separation rules.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1consulting the local health department for specific regulations
- 2separating cooked and raw items
- 3rearranging the line order to prevent dripping or dragging
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“A line cook just rearranged the proteins we use for various dishes, because he insists that it helps with his flow better.”source ↗
“I was under the impression that seafood cannot be right next to meat.”source ↗
“I’m not so sure about that.”source ↗
“You can't have cooked next to raw. Inevitably something raw will get dragged over the cooked and cross contaminated.”source ↗
“The clams dripping on salmon concern me most.”source ↗
Where this came up
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