Healthy kitchen space

Some time ago we have mentioned a few unexpected spots with the most bacteria in your household. And while we had explained a bit about sanitizing the places, we feel like we’ve only touched the subject and would like to broaden the topic as to how we can successfully lower the amount of germs in the kitchen. As opposed to last time, these will not be tips on cleaning and disinfecting (which are mainly subject to your cleaner’s work), but mostly on healthy practices that you can implement yourself.

First of all, you need to be aware that what brings most of the bacteria into your kitchen is food, especially meat and eggs. One of the most dangerous germ in this case is probably salmonella, which can cause diarrhoea, headaches, stomach cramps, vomiting and fever.

In order to avoid salmonella and many other dangerous germs, there is a few steps that are worth following. It is very important to clear out the whole preparation area, so that in case a piece of raw meat is dropped, no items around get contaminated. Also, make sure you leave some space between different kinds of foods you prepare. You don’t want meats to touch your vegetables, freshly washed for the salad. It’s also worth disinfecting the worktop in case any cooking ingredient gets dropped on the surface while chopping. This way you’ll make it safe to put back the piece with the rest of the food without germs spreading over it.

Once you’ve prepared your workspace, next thing to do is washing your hands. Do this before you start cooking and between dealing with different ingredients. Also, mind the meat’s packaging when you bring it home. It may not contain as much bacteria as the actual meat, but there’s still a decent amount of germs that can reach the rest of your kitchen in no time. Even if you put it straight to the bin, there’s still a risk of spreading the bacteria. Fortunately, germs don’t reproduce in minus temperatures. Thus, placing the packages in plastic bags and putting them in the freezer is a great practice until you take the rest of the rubbish out.

Remember that although the temperature inside of your refrigerator is low, this only stops germs from reproducing, not killing them, or holds them from spreading. Thus, make sure you cover all foods that you place inside of the fridge, possibly in airtight containers. Also, it’s a good practise to place any foods you cook in the fridge within two hours since cooking and when reheating them, wait until they reach very high temperature, boil and become steamy. This way you kill all the dangerous germs that might have spread over your food since you first prepared it.

As for cleaning the kitchen, keep in mind that it’s not only about the appearance, but also about your health. Since sponges and rags simply collect and store germs from all over the place, it’s very important to clean them fairly often. As mentioned in the other article (link at the end of this article), a good way to get rid of all the bacteria from the sponges and cloths is to first wash and then place them in a microwave oven for a few minutes. But disinfecting the cleaning materials does not stop germs to spread during the actual cleaning, does it? Thus, try to not only wipe your kitchen surfaces with a wet cloth (which is a common mistake), but also use some cleaning product that you can spray with it.

Remember that your cleaning company can’t do all of this for you and in order to improve your and your family’s health, you need to implement these simple steps yourself. Although, there is a few things you can still ask your cleaner for. For more information, please refer to this article.

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