5 Places Germs Are Having a Blast in Your Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home but also the heart of germs. Between cooking and cleaning, the kitchen is a veritable incubator for bacteria. The goal and aspiration of every family, is to have a germ free home. We all know of the saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, so everybody strives twice as hard to keep their houses and homes clean and germ free. No matter how hard you have cleaned and dusted, there are some nooks and crannies you have overlooked, that if given a microscope to look at, you would be shocked at the germs that breed there.

Here are the top 5 places that germs are most likely to hide and thrive in your kitchen:

 

1) Kitchen Sponge

According to Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at University of Arizona, “The kitchen sponge is wet and moist, always soaking up Coliform bacteria (Found in the feces of animals). It’s like bacterial heaven,”. In a study he did , he found out that 15 percent of sponges, had  salmonella (a nasty bacteria that causes food poisoning) growing in them. He recommends that one should microwave wet sponges for 1 to 2 minutes every day to sanitize them.

 

2) Kitchen sink

From cutting and washing meat, fish, yam and dirty dishes in the sink, there is more fecal bacteria in a sink than there is in a flushed toilet! Washing the sink mildly, especially after handling raw meat or poultry would only aid in the growth of germs.  Wash the sink with hot, soapy water. Make it a habit to wipe out the sink using disinfectant kitchen wipes.

3) Kitchen counters

A lot of things happen  on the kitchen counter, chopping veggies, cutting meats, cracking eggs e.t.c. Most people also use their kitchen sponge to wipe down the counter and spills also. This adds up to a lot of germs being spread and distributed evenly in the aforementioned areas of the kitchen. Instead of wiping counters with sponges, clean spills with paper towels and clean counters with disinfecting kitchen wipes.

4) Cutting board

Always wash your cutting board in hot, soapy water after each use. Disinfect it with bleach (2 tablespoons of bleach to 1 gallon of water) or a good disinfecting kitchen cleaner. It is advisable to also use a separate board each for vegetables, red meat and white meat. This might look like too much senrenre, but when you think about the fact that your board is a breading ground for Campylobacter (also causes food poisoning), it is so worth the effort.

5) Fridge or freezer handle

A lot of people touch the handles of the fridge or the freezer, when cleaning, we use the same kitchen sponge to wipe it down and clean it. Campylobacter and salmonella and more can be growing on that handle and you wont even know. Give the handle  and the entire kitchen door a good wipe-down every day with a disinfecting kitchen wipes. Remember, kitchen wipes are only good for disinfecting.

When it comes to cleaning and preventing diseases, there is no such thing as over doing it. Please let us all try to be extra clean, especially in our kitchens.