What is required in all culinary and pot/dish washing sinks to prevent cross-contamination?

An air-break is a crucial component that prevents cross-contamination in culinary and pot/dish washing sinks. When water is being drained from a sink, it is essential to have a physical gap, or air-break, between the sink's drain and the waste pipe. This gap ensures that waste water cannot be siphoned back into the clean water supply, which could occur if a direct connection existed.

The use of air-breaks is a fundamental practice in food safety, as it significantly reduces the risk of contaminants entering the drinking water system or contaminating clean dishes. This principle is part of maintaining health standards in food service operations, ensuring that culinary environments are safe and hygienic for food preparation and dishwashing.

Other choices, like end caps, catch basins, and mesh filters, do not serve the same purpose in preventing cross-contamination and instead may have different functions related to plumbing or filtration but do not provide the necessary protective measure against contamination of water supplies.