cross-contaminate

American  

[kraws-kuhn-tam-uh-neyt, kros] / ˈkrɔs kənˈtæm əˌneɪt, ˈkrɒs /

Or cross contaminate

verb (used with object)

1. to transfer something bad or harmful, especially pathogens or allergens, to (a person or thing).

   Wash the cutting board after using it for meat, or you may cross-contaminate your vegetables with bacteria from the meat.

2. to allow the unwanted mixture of minute amounts of one substance into another, as with laboratory specimens.

   The lung secretions were left to sit too long before analysis, cross-contaminating the specimen with particles from the air.

3. to mix ideas, information, etc., in such a way as to compromise their integrity or reliability.

   I don't want to cross-contaminate the data—I need the files generated for each day to stay separate.

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Etymology

Origin of cross-contaminate

First recorded in 1965–70

Explanation

To cross-contaminate means to accidentally transfer germs or allergens from one thing to another. It's a bad idea to use the same, unwashed knife to slice raw meat and then an apple. If you make a sandwich on the same cutting board that you just chopped up raw chicken, you risk cross-contaminating your sandwich with a dangerous bacteria like salmonella, which can cause food poisoning. While some kitchen mistakes, such as getting the curry flavor from your dinner party stew into your dessert cake, just result in a bad-tasting dish, cross-contamination is a serious health risk. To stay safe, always wash your hands, utensils, and cutting boards thoroughly between cooking tasks.

Example Sentences

However, even in the face of well-implemented strategies to disinfect facilities and control for microbial risks, microbes such as listeria can occasionally breach food safety barriers and cross-contaminate food products.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2024

Use clean utensils and don't cross-contaminate cooked food with raw food.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2023

The bottom drawer is for protein, which is good to put on the bottom because if anything drips it’s not going to cross-contaminate anything.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2023

Their indestructible nature also means that they can cross-contaminate everything they touch, Dr. Vorst said.

From New York Times • Apr. 12, 2022

“There are different bacteria and fluids in each of those different places, so you don’t want to cross-contaminate as you’re cleaning,” she says.

From Washington Post • Oct. 14, 2021