According to the CDC, there are an estimated 9.4 million foodborne illnesses /year and of that, 11% is directly associated with Salmonella. Salmonella is the leading cause for hospitalizations and deaths. At home in the kitchen, this bacteria spreads by the improper use of knives in food preparation. When we looked at knives with respect to cross contamination we found that
there were many suggestions as to how to clean them, example: using a capful of bleach in a sink of water, put them in the dishwasher, etc. however these suggestions take time and are not feasible when you are working in the kitchen with knives and food preparation. We felt you needed something that more quickly lets you clean the knives or identify a knife for only one use.
We were not able to find too much on the market except for “Color Paring Knives”(found online in the U.S.). These have coloured handles to mark meat (red), poultry (yellow), and vegetables (green). The problem with this product is that you would have to purchase these knives in addition to the costly knives you may all ready have in your kitchen. The other issue with this product, for us, was that it did not identify a raw chicken knife with a cooked chicken knife! You certainly would not want to use the knife you used cutting up the raw chicken with the cooked chicken, especially after you cooked it to above the danger zone for chicken to kill any harmful bacteria.
So we felt this product did not go far enough with their colours and that you would need to further categorize the knives into raw and cooked.
So that is what we did!
Our solution to cross-contamination is to band existing knives with heat shrink tubing in different colours, to colour code the knife and reduce cross-contamination in food preparation.
Our product, “Colour Me Safe”, is a package of 1/4” pre-cut heat shrink bands that a customer can put on their own knives at home to identify them for raw and cooked meat, poultry and vegetables. This means using their own knives instead of having to buy NEW knives, a very costly purchase. The bands are slipped over the knife handle, aimed at with a hairdryer, and they shrink tightly to the handle. The heat shrink melts at 70 deg F and is food grade material, being FDA approved. They do work in the dishwasher, as our mothers can tell you because they have been
using them for 2 months. The red band is for raw meat, the yellow band is for raw poultry, the green band is for fruits and vegetables, the red/white bands are for cooked meat and the yellow/white band is for cooked poultry. There is no knife that is banded green and white because fruits and vegetables do not present an issue as being raw or cooked and carrying bacteria in the same way as meats. We also have a package available for the sight impaired but the number of bands designate the category, 5 bands is raw meat, 4 bands is raw chicken, etc.
Our product would sell through a TV infomercial. The cost of this product would be approximately $10 +HST (CAD). There are enough bands to colour code your home knives. This would cost us in production: .40 cents in product, .25 in packaging, .35 in assembly, $1 in marketing. The production cost is $2 with a profit of $8 per unit.
there were many suggestions as to how to clean them, example: using a capful of bleach in a sink of water, put them in the dishwasher, etc. however these suggestions take time and are not feasible when you are working in the kitchen with knives and food preparation. We felt you needed something that more quickly lets you clean the knives or identify a knife for only one use.
We were not able to find too much on the market except for “Color Paring Knives”(found online in the U.S.). These have coloured handles to mark meat (red), poultry (yellow), and vegetables (green). The problem with this product is that you would have to purchase these knives in addition to the costly knives you may all ready have in your kitchen. The other issue with this product, for us, was that it did not identify a raw chicken knife with a cooked chicken knife! You certainly would not want to use the knife you used cutting up the raw chicken with the cooked chicken, especially after you cooked it to above the danger zone for chicken to kill any harmful bacteria.
So we felt this product did not go far enough with their colours and that you would need to further categorize the knives into raw and cooked.
So that is what we did!
Our solution to cross-contamination is to band existing knives with heat shrink tubing in different colours, to colour code the knife and reduce cross-contamination in food preparation.
Our product, “Colour Me Safe”, is a package of 1/4” pre-cut heat shrink bands that a customer can put on their own knives at home to identify them for raw and cooked meat, poultry and vegetables. This means using their own knives instead of having to buy NEW knives, a very costly purchase. The bands are slipped over the knife handle, aimed at with a hairdryer, and they shrink tightly to the handle. The heat shrink melts at 70 deg F and is food grade material, being FDA approved. They do work in the dishwasher, as our mothers can tell you because they have been
using them for 2 months. The red band is for raw meat, the yellow band is for raw poultry, the green band is for fruits and vegetables, the red/white bands are for cooked meat and the yellow/white band is for cooked poultry. There is no knife that is banded green and white because fruits and vegetables do not present an issue as being raw or cooked and carrying bacteria in the same way as meats. We also have a package available for the sight impaired but the number of bands designate the category, 5 bands is raw meat, 4 bands is raw chicken, etc.
Our product would sell through a TV infomercial. The cost of this product would be approximately $10 +HST (CAD). There are enough bands to colour code your home knives. This would cost us in production: .40 cents in product, .25 in packaging, .35 in assembly, $1 in marketing. The production cost is $2 with a profit of $8 per unit.