What is a critical practice to avoid cross-contamination?

Using colored cutting boards is a critical practice to avoid cross-contamination because it helps establish a visual and systematic method for separating different types of food. For instance, specific colors can be designated for raw meat, vegetables, poultry, and cooked foods. This visual cue minimizes the risk of mixing these items, which can lead to harmful bacteria being transferred from raw to ready-to-eat foods. By assigning distinct cutting boards for each type of food, food handlers can ensure that they use the proper equipment for each preparation task, significantly decreasing the chances of cross-contamination.

In contrast, the other options present practices that would increase the risk of cross-contamination. Keeping raw and cooked foods together can lead to raw juices contaminating cooked food, using the same utensils for different foods can transfer bacteria between items, and storing all foods in open containers can expose them to airborne contaminants and pathogens.