Clean Kitchen = Healthy Home

A Clean Kitchen Makes a Healthy Home
Everytime you use a sponge or dishrag to clean the counter table or sink, you unknowingly spread germs around. Recent research shows that the average sponge or dishrag is chock full of bacteria like Staphylococcus and Salmonella which are the two main causes of food-borne illnesses in America. Also, 66% of rags tested had an opportunistic organism, those that can affect immune-compromised people, such as the elderly, pregnant, sick and the young.

Where are all the germs coming from?
The Staph germs probably come from your hands, so washing them with an antimicrobial soap would help. The Salmonella germs come from meat and poultry juices that spread around on counters, refrigerator shelves and are dumped down the drain. Once you wipe up with the rag or sponge, the bacteria are put into an environment that is moist and ideal for growth and can then be spread anywhere, even onto your hands when you wring it out.

Cleaning Tips
The proliferation and spread of bacteria in the kitchen is a preventable problem.
Here is a list of ideas to help keep the bacteria at bay:

-Do not use dish rags. Rags have much more surface area and are usually left damp and folded while drying.
-Replace those stinky sponges. That smell is telling you something. You can stick the sponge in the dishwasher to disinfect it.
-Consider using a germ-resistant sponge. They have an antimicrobial agent that prevents the germs from multiplying for the life of the sponge.
-When wiping up meat juices, use a paper towel instead and throw it away. Do not reuse.
-Clean kitchen surfaces with a cleaner that is specifically made to kill kitchen bacteria.
-Use what the chefs of the world use, sliced lemons or lemon juice to clean cutting boards. The juice kills off many bacteria that are in the kitchen.