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This everyday kitchen item could give you food poisoning

Washing your hands is not enough to keep bacteria away

This everyday kitchen item could give you food poisoning

Washing your hands is not enough to keep bacteria away

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This everyday kitchen item could give you food poisoning

Washing your hands is not enough to keep bacteria away

Things like washing your hands after cooking meats, checking expiration dates on both perishable and nonperishable foods and regularly cleaning/tossing your sponges are good efforts to avoid food poisoning, but they're not enough."Kitchen environments host more microbes than toilets," researchers reported in a 2017 study, which concluded that microwaving your sponges is not the best way to clean them. Because of this, focusing solely on switching out your sponges and disinfecting your countertops and other surfaces is a mistake. Another study presented at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in 2018 found that of the 100 kitchen towels examined after one month of use, 49 of them showed bacterial growth.Of this 49%, "Almost three-quarters grew bacteria that is normally found in the intestines, such as E. coli and Enterococcus species. Another 14% grew colonies of Staphylococcus aureus (staph)," CNN reports.In other words, these germs raise huge concerns regarding food-borne illnesses, making kitchen towels a serious food-poisoning hazard.If you're someone who to uses towels in your kitchen, don't worry! The best way to protect yourself at home? Buy a few additional towels and switch them out more regularly. By having a larger collection of towels, you can "implement a rotation of washing towels every few days," Well+Good suggests. In doing so, you'll keep the germs and bacteria away so you stay healthy and save money (and the environment) in the long run.

Things like washing your hands after cooking meats, checking expiration dates on both perishable and nonperishable foods and regularly cleaning/tossing your sponges are good efforts to avoid food poisoning, but they're not enough.

"Kitchen environments host more microbes than toilets," researchers reported in a is not the best way to clean them. Because of this, focusing solely on switching out your sponges and disinfecting your countertops and other surfaces is a mistake.

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presented at the meeting in 2018 found that of the 100 kitchen towels examined after one month of use, 49 of them showed bacterial growth.

Of this 49%, "Almost three-quarters grew bacteria that is normally found in the intestines, such as E. coli and Enterococcus species. Another 14% grew colonies of Staphylococcus aureus (staph)," .

In other words, these germs raise huge concerns regarding food-borne illnesses, making kitchen towels a serious food-poisoning hazard.

If you're someone who to uses towels in your kitchen, don't worry! The best way to protect yourself at home? Buy a few additional towels and switch them out more regularly.

By having a larger collection of towels, you can "implement a rotation of every few days," . In doing so, you'll keep the germs and bacteria away so you stay healthy and save money (and the environment) in the long run.