Guide · food business
What colour chopping board is for what?
Commercial kitchens use a different coloured board for each kind of food so raw meat never touches what is eaten raw. The common code: red raw meat, blue raw seafood, yellow raw poultry, green salad and fruit, brown vegetables, white dairy and bread.
The colour code
| Board | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Red | Raw meat: beef, lamb, pork |
| Blue | Raw fish and seafood |
| Yellow | Raw poultry (some kitchens use it for cooked meat instead) |
| Green | Salad, fruit and herbs |
| Brown | Vegetables, especially root vegetables with soil on them |
| White | Dairy, bread and bakery |
| Purple | Allergen-free preparation, where a kitchen uses one |
This is the usual convention, not a legal colour scheme. What the law requires is that a food business prevents cross-contamination; a colour code, posted where staff can see it, is the common way to show it is done. Use the code your kitchen’s food safety plan sets.
What we print for this
Proofed before they run
Common questions
Are colour coded chopping boards a legal requirement in Australia?
No specific colours are required by law. The Food Standards Code requires food businesses to protect food from contamination, and an environmental health officer will look for how a kitchen keeps raw and ready-to-eat food apart. Colour coded boards and a chart on the wall are the usual answer.
What colour chopping board is for chicken?
Yellow, in most Australian kitchens. Some kitchens follow the UK scheme, where yellow is cooked meat and raw poultry goes on red with other raw meat. Pick one and post the chart, so every shift does the same.
What is a purple chopping board for?
Allergen-free preparation: food for a customer with an allergy, kept away from boards that have touched nuts, gluten or shellfish. Use purple utensils with it, and store it apart.
Where should the chart go?
On the wall above the prep bench, at eye height, where it is seen as the board is picked up. A laminated or rigid sign survives the steam and the cleaning that paper does not.
The chart, printed for the kitchen wall
Wipe-clean and proofed first
We print this chart, in your kitchen’s own colours and wording, on foam PVC, which takes a wipe-down, or as a poster for the office. Ask for a quote with the size, or add your other kitchen notices to the same order. Opening a food business? The checklist of what to print is here.
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