The kitchen provides the ideal environment for
disease-carrying bacteria and viruses to breed. Unfortunately, the places most
people assume are the dirtiest—for example, countertops or the microwave
keypad—are the places with the lowest germ count. To help you keep healthy and
your kitchen clean, here are eight places that bacteria hide in your kitchen.
Water Filters
Drinking water is an important part of staying healthy. Many households now have water filters attached to
their faucets to ensure the water they drink is of the highest quality.
Unfortunately, faucet and refrigerator water filters are one of the places that are often overlooked when
it comes to cleaning the kitchen. The moist environment is the perfect breeding
ground for bacteria and mold, including E. coli.
Clean It! For refrigerator water filters, consult your user
manual. For whole house filters, it is recommended you soak the filter in a dilute
solution of muriatic acid and rinse thoroughly in
clean water.
Sponges
Sponges have the
honor of “The Dirtiest Item in the Kitchen.” Their constant dampness, the
porous structure, and the food particles and messes they wipe up create a
natural breeding ground for bacteria.
Very few people
disinfect their sponges and cloths after they use
them, so food particles and bacteria stay in the sponge, breeding. Moreover,
when we wipe with dirty sponges, the bacteria make their way into our hands, which then spread to every
surface we touch.
Clean It! Cleaning sponges is
easy. You can
disinfect your sponges daily using a solution of dilute chlorine and water.
Alternatively, you can zap your rinsed sponges in the microwave to remove 99.9%
of bacteria.
Refrigerator Compartments
Let’s face it. We
rarely eat all the food we store in our refrigerators, and, the longer it sits
in the fridge, the more it rots and attracts mold,
bacteria, and yeast. The biggest culprits are the meat compartment, vegetable
crisper, and the fridge seal. Small food particles can get trapped, meat juices
spill, and vegetables rot, allowing
bacteria to grow even in the chilly atmosphere.
Clean It! Your fridge should be cleaned out once per week to
ensure your food stays fresh and disease-free. Natural, non-toxic products are
the best for cleaning your fridge. Make sure you remove all shelves and
compartments to clean in all the nooks and crannies.
Spatulas
Rubber spatulas,
specifically, spatulas where the head and the handle separate, have been found
to be hotbeds for bacteria to thrive. Though most people will scrub their
spatula after using it, to remove food particles, very few people wash the two
pieces separately. This means the space
where the pieces join can contain food and dirty dishwater—the perfect recipe
for bacterial growth.
Clean It! Wash both pieces separately after soaking them in a
solution of 2 parts water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide, with a few drops of tea tree
oil.
Can Openers
One unlikely
source of bacteria in your kitchen is the humble
can opener. Most people wouldn’t think to clean their can opener before
throwing it back in the utensil drawer. However, when opening cans, the can
opener comes into contact with the food or preserving juices inside. Even in
small amounts, these food particles provide energy for bacteria to grow, and
one bacterium can quickly become millions.
Clean It! After every use, wash your can opener with warm, soapy
water or throw it in the dishwasher if there aren’t any parts that can be
damaged.
Blender Gaskets
You may use it to
create nutritious smoothies, but it can be anything but healthy because another
unexpected place that bacteria love to hide is in the rubber blender gasket.
When using the blender, food can spill into the gasket, and people rarely take
their blender apart to clean it properly. This means that food particles stay
trapped, attracting bacteria.
Clean It! It may be a hassle, but you need to take your blender
completely apart, after every use, and scrub down every component with warm
soapy water. You can also put the dishwasher-safe parts in the dishwasher on
high heat to disinfect them.
Food Storage Containers
Keeping leftovers
in rubber sealed containers may no longer be the best idea. The seals can
harbor E. coli and salmonella because many people cannot
(or do not) remove the seals to clean underneath them. Often, people also store
produce in these containers without washing it first. Unwashed produce can
spread bacteria, which can transfer to other food products subsequently stored
in the same container if it is not washed
properly.
Clean It! Simply take the rubber seal off the container, wash with warm soapy water, and put all the pieces in
the dishwasher to sanitize them.
The Kitchen Sink
Finally, the
kitchen sink is one of the germiest places in the kitchen. The sink is constantly exposed to food particles, as well
as being the place we rinse our dirtiest kitchen item—the sponge. We spend so
much time cleaning other items in the
sink, we often forget to clean the sink itself.
Clean It! Unfortunately, a quick rinse with clean water isn’t going to cut it. For stainless steel sinks, scrub the sink down with detergent once per day, and, to disinfect it, spray with undiluted white vinegar and leave it for several minutes before rinsing. Don’t forget to wipe the faucet and taps.
