The Kitchen Sponge
The Better Life Experts | September 15, 2008
According to the USDA Department of Agricultural Research, the average kitchen sponge is saturated with mold, bacteria and yeast, giving food pathogens free range to roam on kitchen countertops, dishes, small appliances and eventually enter your mouth. The result is often downright distasteful – stomach pains, cramping, and diarrhea.
Should a sponge be used once and thrown away? Not if you have a microwave or dishwasher. The USDA team who investigated different methods to clean dirty sponges found that microwaving sponges for one minute or running them through a dishwasher on a heated dry cycle killed more than 99% of bacteria, yeast and molds. Bleach solutions, lemon juice or deionized water killed an average of 37-87% of these pathogens.
So give your sponge a second chance. I can’t wait to get home and test out this study.
Reference: Sharma, M., Eastridge, J.S., Mudd, C.L. 2007. Effective disinfection methods of kitchen sponges [abstract]. Institute of Food Technologists. Control No. 3310.
No comments:
Post a Comment