WSU Thurston County
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Thurston County Extension
Food Safety: Kitchen Clean Up
Are you a "Pushy Person" in Your Kitchen?
The Olympian, April 22, 1998
Cross contamination of your kitchen is the process where you are pushing bacteria around with contaminated kitchen towels and wiping cloths. Wiping cloths, towels, and sponges can harbor many bacteria capable of causing illness. In a study conducted at the University of Arizona, researchers found more disease-causing bacteria in kitchens than in bathrooms, including the rim of the toilet bowl. The study conducted by microbiologist, Carlos Enriquez documented bacteria like Escherichia coli coliform bacteria in sponges, dish towels, sinks, and countertops.
QUESTION: What do you think about using sponges to clean the kitchen?
ANSWER: In the study conducted by the University of Arizona, sponges were found to be an ideal vehicle to spread disease causing bacteria. In one home, bacteria was found on many kitchen surfaces for 6 days in a row, then the surfaces turned germ free. Upon further investigation, researchers found the family had begun using a new sponge.
Enriquez and his colleagues studied bacteria in 75 dishrags and 325 sponges from home kitchens. They found a large number of E. Coli, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, and staphylococcus. With some sponges, even a couple of drops of liquid from the sponges contained up to 10 million colony-forming units of disease causing bacteria. Sponges are an ideal home for bacteria. Bacteria need room temperatures, moisture, food to grow and multiply, and a surface the bacteria can cling to. The researchers found that when a sponge stays moist, the number of live microbes doesn't decrease for 2 weeks. They also found that bacteria can even survive for at least 2 days in a damp sponge gradually drying in the air.
For those of you ready to redesign and rip out your kitchen countertops, remember that bacteria needs food, temperature and moisture to survive. On a dry surface like a countertop, resident bacteria survive no more than a few hours. So surfaces may pose less risk after several hours, while a contaminated sponge may go on for days spreading bacteria. If you use a sponge, you should change frequently to one that is clean and sanitary. This means having some kind of system in your home that allows you to know which are clean and which need to be cleaned and sanitized. Personally, I prefer using white kitchen towels and wiping cloths and cleaning and sanitizing food preparation surfaces in our kitchen.
QUESTION: What is the best way to use wiping cloths to clean and sanitize the countertops and surfaces in our kitchen.
ANSWER: First, you want to clean the surface with a detergent to remove any food soils. Then wipe the surface using a clean cloth that has been rinsed in a sanitizing solution. The sanitizing solution is inexpensive and easy to mix. To sanitize food preparation surfaces, the Thurston County Department of Health recommends using one capful of bleach in one quart of water. Please do remember to store any cleaning chemicals in a place that is not accessible to children.
So, the best way to be a "Pushy Person' in your kitchen is to push cleaning and sanitizing on your countertops every day.
B. Susie Craig
Area Faculty
WSU Cooperative Extension Thurston County
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Last updated January 23, 2001