Walked into the walk-in at 6am and someone had cross-contaminated the beef and pork...

I work at a small shop downtown, and last Tuesday I came in early to find a whole lamb shoulder sitting on the beef rack. The blood had dripped down onto our ribeyes below. I had to throw out about 40 bucks worth of beef because you can't risk it with cross-contamination. My boss just shrugged and said 'accidents happen' but I had to redo the whole morning setup. Has anyone else dealt with a coworker who just ignores basic meat separation rules?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_wells1mo ago

Wait a minute, you can't just toss out beef because lamb blood dripped on it. That's not how cross-contamination works with whole muscle cuts like ribeyes. If it was ground beef or something porous then yeah, pitch it, but a steak can be rinsed and cooked to safe temps without any risk. Your boss is actually right that accidents happen, and you probably cost the shop money by throwing out perfectly good meat. Next time just wipe it down and trim the bloody part, or better yet cook it for yourself since it's still safe. You don't have to redo the whole setup for a little blood on the bone side.

skylercooper1mo ago

Honestly feels like you're overreacting a bit here. A rinse and a trim would've handled it just fine, whole muscle cuts aren't the same as ground meat for cross-contamination.