Your kitchen may not be as clean as you think
INDIANAPOLIS Ind. (WISH) – Kitchens are important, essential rooms in our homes. However, researchers tested hundreds of households in a new study and found they might not be as clean as you thought.
A study from Drexel University shows there are five areas in your kitchen that are more likely to be dirty.
Let’s start with the biggest piece of equipment, the refrigerator. The biggest mistake people make is storing meat improperly. Make sure to store raw meat on the lowest shelf or else juices from raw chicken can drip down and contaminate other foods.
Next, your dishcloths or sponges can also be pretty disgusting. 64% of sponges in households tested were found to have bacteria. Throw sponges away before they start to smell.
A third not so clean location in the kitchen is your sink, especially down the drain. It’s a breeding ground for bacteria. Another place to be to be wary of bacteria are the place we prepare all different types of foods: cutting boards. Be sure to wash them properly. Finally, pet or pest areas can attract bacteria. If your pet’s food bowl is near a food prep area it can lead to food contamination.
Adam Kracz is the director of infection prevention at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health says if a normal home was held to the health standards we would probably fail .
“It’s really important that we want to maintain cleanliness,” said Karcz. “Hand hygiene is the most crucial thing any of us can do within the hospital, hand hygiene is important and at the home hand hygiene is very important. If you’re handling raw foods make sure that after you’re done handling that you wash your hands before going on to touch other things in your kitchen. Even your salt shaker you’re putting salt on your steak, you don’t want to be touching your meat and then touching that salt shaker because that can act as a vehicle to transmit other germs.”
Simple solutions for saving your health, washing after each use is Important.
What’s one thing people need to know that could save them from getting sick? Keep your refrigerator at or below 40 degrees. Refrigerators with higher operating temperatures were linked with higher counts of listeria, and other bacteria, which is dangerous for pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.