Ice keeping - Avoid cross contamination

Many of us / food business owners buy ice for preparing cold drinks and food.  Before we are doing that,  do you know how to keep ice in safe (to avoid food contamination)? Do you separate the storing of ice from raw food?

   Yes, we should not keep ice together with raw food in freezer.  Ice is a ready to eat food that does not go through cooking to kill bacteria whereas raw food, such as chicken, meat, duck, seafood (high risk food) contains bacteria. When 2 foods are stored together in a freezer, cross contamination from raw food to ice will occur, resulting the ice contaminated.  

Most of the bacteria not active at freezing temperature.  However, when we open and close the freezer cover, we are actually providing changes for the bacteria of the surrounding to be active for a while and potentially transferring to the adjacent food.  For ice, bacteria from (unclosed / uncovered) meat will transfer to the adjacent ice.  This is called cross contamination.

When the contaminated ice is taken out from the freezer and it is used in drinks, the bacteria would potentially producing toxin, causing food contamination in the drinks. The other possibility is when the freezer is broken down in a sudden.  The temperature increase resulting the bacteria will be active for a while and transfer to the ice.

So, we shouldn't put ice / food which would not under washing and / or cooking process with the food which would under such processes to avoid cross contamination. 

When the space of freezer is limited and there is no other choice, we can put them into freezers but to make sure both food are wrapped / closed probably and to be isolated each other and stored probably.      

Reference: Regulation 25(4)(a) of 2009 Food hygiene Regulations - a separate refrigerated storage for raw food materials and processed food materials is sufficiently provided 

Credit: ChM. Dr Fatimah Salim (Ahli Kimia) & Food Safety & Quality division, Labuan Federal Territory Health Department