Study reveals the dirtiest thing in your kitchen – and it might not be what you think
If you were asked you to name the item in your kitchen that contains the most germs, you might be inclined to point out your tap handle. You’d be close, but surprisingly not correct. According to a study published in Food Protection Trends showed that the hand towel is actually the dirtiest thing in your kitchen, often teeming with germs that can make you sick.
The study was undertaken by Kansas State University, and involved volunteers preparing recipes using raw beef or chicken, and a fruit salad. The raw meat was coated in a harmless microorganism found in yoghurt so they could track the spread of germs throughout the kitchen. Video taken during the experiment showed people handling the towel with dirty hands, after quick washing jobs, as well as using them to dry their just-cleaned hands.
But the spread of germs doesn’t stop there. Many of the participants checked their phones while cooking, which likely transferred germs from anywhere else they’d been, including the bathroom, to the kitchen towel and then their food.
So how did they measure the results? At the end of the meal preparation, the fruit salad was examined to determine how much the harmless microorganism had spread. More than 90 per cent of the fruit salads made during the experiments had traces of the “germ” on them, showing that while people may have thought using the towel was helping them stay clean, it was actually contributing to the spread of germs.
Experts recommend paying close attention to the way you use your hand towels in the kitchen. If you’re preparing meat, you should was it at the end of the day. If it’s a light day in the kitchen, with no raw meat handled, you can judge for yourself. But it’s always important to thoroughly wash your hands whenever preparing food, or you risk the spread of nasties like salmonella.