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For many Canadian families, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It?s where you can cook together, eat together?and, unfortunately, spread germs together, thanks to an abundance of super-stealthy spots for dirt, bacteria and other microbes to collect, hide and (ew!) multiply. Here are five of the biggest ?cootie collectors? in your kitchen right now?and how to keep it clean.
The cutting board
Wood, plastic, bamboo?it doesn?t matter: if you cut raw meat on it, your cutting board could contain up to 200 times more fecal bacteria than you?d find on your toilet seat. Bacteria can creep into all the teeny crevices your knife leaves behind on the board?s surface, and then contaminate your hands, utensils or any other foods you later place on the board. How to clean it: For wooden or bamboo boards, wash with warm, soapy water and then dry immediately with a paper towel to prevent splitting and warping. Plastic cutting boards can be put in the dishwasher, but you can also scrub them using a mixture of one litre of water with one teaspoon of bleach, and then rinse them clean and stand to dry.
The kitchen sponge or dish towel
Your kitchen sponge or dish towel is probably the filthiest item in your kitchen, carrying up to 10 million bacteria per square inch! If you?re using them to clean, you could be spreading more germs than you?re wiping away.
Scrap it: Truly disinfecting your sponge or dish towel to completely kill all pathogens can be very difficult to do especially...