Discover The Top Five Dirtiest Places In Your Kitchen Right Now

Although the kitchen may be the heart of your home it’s also the dirtiest. There may not be any obvious mess. We aren’t calling you a hoarder. But just think about it. Think about what you do in your kitchen. You cook. Now think about what you use to cook. Your hands. And now I want you to think about the last time you washed your hands before touching anything in your kitchen.

In the kitchen, we touch counters and shelves. Uncooked and unwashed and raw food. Our children’s hands and toys. We touch our refrigerator handles and cabinet knobs. And all of that touching easily spreads germs from one surface to the next in the place we make food that will ultimately go in our mouths.

So if our hands are the dirtiest place on our body, then you should know one of the dirtiest places in your kitchen is the next place your hand goes. It’s going to transfer the same bacteria and germs. When you’re in the kitchen where’s the first place your hand goes when doing any task? It goes to the knob on the drawer or the handle on the refrigerator. Or maybe it goes on the faucet of the think or the buttons on the microwave.

Your kitchen sink should be disinfected after each load of dishes or meal preparation or at least once per day. Don’t forget the handles, the faucet, and the counter areas when disinfecting the sink. Your hands touched those places too. And they can catch all of the splatters of contaminated food.

Many people use things like sponges, sink scrubbing brushes, and fabric dish towels in an effort to reduce the use of paper waste from paper towels. But according to a study that was done by the National Sanitation Foundation International (NSF), at least 75 percent of these products harbor coliform bacteria. Which is also known as Salmonella or E.coli. I know that’s the last thing you wanted to read today but you needed to hear it.

Since we already talked about what could be lurking on the handle of your refrigerator let’s talk about what could be lurking inside. In order to prevent/get rid of the coliform bacteria, yeast, and/or mold that can grow there start by throwing out old food and removing the refrigerator drawers and or shelves.

Old leftovers can grow mold and yeast quickly. Raw meat that is stored in the refrigerator can leak. Fluids can then accumulate in the drawers and along the edges of shelves. The same goes for other packaged products like milk or tubs of butter have been handled in and out of the refrigerator. This is why it’s super important to disinfect your fridge when you clean it.

After you have thrown out all of the old food and removed your shelving you can take your multi-surface cleaner or disinfectant wipes and begin wiping the inside of your refrigerator completely.

The last thing you probably thought was dirty in your kitchen were your spices. But more specifically your salt and pepper shaker. Did you use them while preparing food? Did you wash your hands before touching them? Or did you just grab and season? Most of us grab and season.