Wellness Wednesday

Kitchen Towels Linked to Growth of the Pathogens Responsible for Food Poisoning

Depending on the size of your family and hygienic practices in the kitchen, you could be putting your family at risk of contamination.

     Most people have cloth dish towels in their kitchen, some use the same towel for 24 hrs, some households for days at a time. Certain family members might grab a dish towel to dry wet hands or fruits after washing, others might use the towel to carry a hot plate of food, or wipe off eating utensils. This leads us to ask one important question, "Are our kitchen towels as clean as we think and could they be potentially harming my family?".

     Researchers from the University of Mauritius set out to find out if kitchen towels were contributors to cross-contamination, and what factors influenced bacterial growth. They found 49% of the 100 towels collected had bacterial growth. Those households with children and more family members using the same kitchen were particularly vulnerable. Damp multipurpose towels in non-vegetarian households were most likely to carry E-Coli and other bacteria usually found in the human intestine. This data indicates that kitchen towels could be responsible for cross-contamination of foods potentially leading to food poisoning. Researchers suggest avoiding damp towels, and bigger families with children and elderly present should be extra vigilant of proper hygienic protocols in the kitchen.