Are you sure!?
Would you mind putting your finger in your kitchen sink for two seconds please?
… Congratulations! You just touched the dirtiest spot in your home, a spot that is even dirtier than your toilet!
… Congratulations! You just touched the dirtiest spot in your home, a spot that is even dirtier than your toilet!
Your kitchen might be spotless and shiny but that does not mean it is safe. Dangerous and killer invaders are living with you under the same roof, although you lock the door at night, and you do not even know it! We usually give time to clean and sanitize our bathrooms and toilets, thinking they are the dirtiest spots in the house, while our kitchens have 100,000 times more germs.
Scientifically, if you drop a piece of food in your toilet, it is safer to eat it than if it drops in your kitchen sink!
Want to know how to get rid of them?
Here is how to clean your kitchen, but first...
Meet the enemies:
Germs is the name, messing with your well-being is the game!
Our world hosts tiny invisible to the eye, living creatures that we call Germs. Once attached on your hands for instance, these germs penetrate your body through your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs intrude into your body to colonize it and live there, some are actually pacifiers and do good to your body, but the majority cause illnesses and deceases that vary from a simple diarrhea or flu, to HIV (Aids) or Virus C and other killer diseases.
The most common Germ types are virus and bacteria. They cause disease in their host (animal, plant, human or even another microorganism).
A closer look: The difference between Virus and Bacteria.
Bacteria is a single cell that need warmth and humidity to reproduce and grow. It can divide every 20 minutes and reach more than 8 million bacterial cells in 1 day. Most bacteria are killed by heat, and will fall off any surface by normal friction. Some bacteria are actually helpful to the body, others like salmonella (found in raw meat) can kill!
A virus on the other hand, is a cell with dents all around, that helps it stick to a surface. It needs a living host to reproduce (your body for instance, or a growing bacteria!). It does not die by only heat, it needs pressure as well (something that happens in special sterilizers) and it sticks to a surface harder than a bacteria, that it might not fall off by friction. Viruses are all harmful, like Influenza, chickenpox, H1N1, HIV (Aids), Virus C, Ebola, Rubella…etc.
Meet your defense:
Macrophages is the name, Eating is the game!
A lot of the Germs passing through your mouth to your stomach are killed due to the acidic secretions of your stomach. Yet the liquids and food there, dilute the acid and it becomes not very effective.
Those who penetrate your body through your skin or eyes... pass in your blood stream though, and here is where your immunity system comes to action. It has these little fellows we call macrophages, that circulate in your white blood cells and play a 24/7 packman game in your body. They scan your body, and whenever they find an intruder, they eat it!
This little war takes time, and you can find symptoms like fever, when the fight is big!
The bad news:
The fight between your macrophages and bacteria gets harder when the enemy is in high quantity or concentration. If your immunity system is not very strong, bacteria like Salmonella can kill you!
Viruses however do not need quantity or concentration to affect you. One cell is more than enough. Once alive, in your body as its host, it reproduces.
Some mean viruses like Virus C, are not detectable to your macrophages. They pass the scan, reproduce in your liver for long years, appearing in common symptoms like those of flu, then after years, failure in your liver starts and you know the rest!
The good news:
There is a way out in 99% of the cases. Viruses and bacteria have a lifetime and favorable conditions to live in. They do not live endlessly, they die at a point when their ambient conditions are not favorable or they didn't find a host soon enough!
What you can do:
1- Regular medical checkups: (for adults with no showing symptoms)
A full medical check up every 2 years
A complete blood picture every year (that is ).
Checkups can reveal if you have a yet-hidden virus C, which will be at an early stage at this point and can easily be killed by a course of medication!
2- Limit the infection:
You can minimize the infections by following these simple cleaning AND SANITIZING rules in your kitchen (same logic will apply on the rest of the house of course).
How to have a clean and sanitized kitchen:
Cleaning and sanitizing are two different things. While cleaning whips off germs from the surface and replace them somewhere else, sanitizing however kills them!
1- Hand washing
Regular hand washing with soap and water for 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice!). The heat of the water doesn't matter as much as the friction!
2- Sponges
They get wet and stay moist, so bacteria grow like crazy in the micro-cervices of the sponge which makes disinfection difficult. Thousands of bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella can be present per square inch of a used kitchen sponge. Using these dirty sponges only transfers germs from one place to another. Sponges are considered No.1 source of germs in the entire house.
Pop the sponge in your dishwasher or put it wet and microwave it on high for 30 - 60 seconds. Don’t use your dishes sponge for other purposes and keep it dry.
3- Cleaning cloths
Germs also grow in the towels you use to wipe the counter tops and utensils. Wiping with dirty cloths will spread more germs, instead of removing them. So dry the towels between use and replace dishcloths every week. It is recommend to use paper towels to clean or disposable disinfectant wipes to both clean and disinfect the counters and surfaces.
4- Sink
Moisture with food particles resting for hours on dishes, now you know what that leads to. The bacteria can then easily get on your hands or spread to other foods so disinfect the sink regularly with a product made for the kitchen. Vinegar and lemon juice can clean some bacteria, but they can’t clean really bad ones. You can also use a solution of bleach and water once a day and then let the solution run down the drain. Also use baking soda and a tooth brush to clean around the drains.
5- Cutting boards
Frequently disinfect your cutting board with a kitchen disinfectant or put it in a dishwasher. Plastic cutting boards are ok, yet wooden ones seems to have a natural antimicrobial compound. Use separate cutting boards for cutting raw meat and vegetables. so you don’t get cross-contamination.
I personally use glass plates when cutting raw meat then clean and disinfect them.
6- Fridge
Putting hot food in your refrigerator makes the temperature drop down, creating a perfect environment for the growth of bacteria. Also when you leave something open in the fridge long enough that it goes bad, it is better to clean and disinfect your fridge so any bacteria left behind, would be killed.
Clean your fridge regularly and wipe the bottom shelf every 2-3 weeks with a kitchen disinfectant as it tends to have most of the bacteria compared to the rest of your fridge, because moisture and condensation drip down from the upper shelves, or because we defrost meats above it.
7- Kitchen counter
Disinfect working surfaces before, during and after preparing meals, especially when preparing meat and poultry. Kitchen countertops tend to be the dirtiest near the sink area because people wipe them down with sponges and cleaning cloths. Don’t use sponges and cloths to clean the counter, it just spreads more germs. Use a kitchen disinfectant or a solution of 1 teaspoon of liquid unscented bleach to 1 Liter of water, and dry the countertop with disposable paper towels as they absorb a lot of moisture and bacteria then you just throw them away.
8- Other surfaces
Disinfectant sprays or wipes should be used on trash cans, door knobs, refrigerator handles, cupboard handles, faucets and stove handles, kitchen phone …etc.
9- Food handling
Keep different kinds of foods separated to avoid cross contamination (Ex: raw meat and vegetables) and similarly use separate cutting boards.
Foods should be cooked to proper temperatures to destroy bacteria and refrigerated promptly as the growth of bacteria is slowed in cold temperature.
Set your fridge to 4 degrees. Higher than that it is too hot.
Reheat cooked food to 70° C in the center for 2 minutes.
Cooking at temperatures between 70° and 100°C kills most bacteria but some spores can survive. So cool cooked foods as quickly as possible then refrigerate them.
Don’t worry, be happy!
This article is not supposed to scare you. You should not go crazy with disinfection, as your body still needs some bacteria and mild viruses from time to time, to build your immunity system database and develop it with new antibodies. Otherwise, you will become too vulnerable. That is the idea behind vaccinations for example.
Awareness however is the aim, so next time you buy soap or detergents, choose antibacterial ones and keep your safe food handling basics!
Special thanks to Dr. Andrew Bassem ORAL & Dental Surgeon GEORGEA USA - Member of Dental German Association of Implantology DGOI, for his scientific and medical revision of the information provided.
References:
WebMD
2011 NSF International Household Germ Study
Eileen Abruzzo, director of infection control at Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn, NY
