What are the main vehicles or routes of bacterial contamination?

• A. Utilities and appliances
• B. Hands, cloths and equipment, hand-contact surfaces, and food-contact surfaces
• C. Air and water
• D. Temperature alone

Answer: (B)

Contamination mostly moves directly from people and surfaces that touch food. Hands can transfer bacteria to food, and contaminated cloths, equipment, and surfaces that contact either raw or ready-to-eat foods can pass microbes along. This combination—hands, cloths, equipment, and both hand-contact and food-contact surfaces—covers the main paths of cross-contamination in most food operations.

Utilities and appliances can harbor bacteria but aren’t the primary transfer routes. Air and water can spread microbes, but they’re typically secondary routes compared with direct contact routes. Temperature is a control factor, not a vehicle of contamination.