We all worry when we go out to eat, is the kitchen clean? Do the employees follow good hygiene and cleanliness standards? Everyone worries about those things but restaurant kitchens are held to a much stricter standard than your average kitchen.
Your biggest food concern may be right at home. Most of us know how to handle raw meat or to wash food before preparing, it’s the little things that cause the most problems.
For instance, is your pet allowed in the kitchen while food is being prepared? Just quickly touching the dog, either a pat on the head or to nudge it out of the way, if not followed by proper hand washing, can contaminate your food. Do you have a cat that likes to walk on the counters and table tops? Well those cute little paws have spent some time in the litter box.
The same sponge you use for cleaning your dishes and counter tops is also great at breeding bacteria. Sponges can be microwaved to get rid of germs but the smell that lingers makes that a choice to be avoided. You can run your sponge through the dishwasher when doing dishes and you should make sure it is kept in something that allows air to flow so it can thoroughly dry. Just putting it on the sink is a bad idea, it never dries out creating a perfect bacteria breeding ground.
Is your refrigerator cold enough? If the thermostat is set to low or there is so much in there that air can’t circulate freely you are providing everything needed for food to go bad. The smell test isn’t the best test, sometimes food that shouldn’t be eaten will still smell fine. When in doubt, throw it out.
When washing your hands in the kitchen before preparing food, don’t dry them on the dish towel that’s hanging by the sink. Chances are it’s full of bacteria, get a clean towel or use a paper towel. Also don’t let kids put their hands into bags of cheese and the like, bacteria from their hands can transfer to the food in the bag and grow.
The best defense is a good offense, even if the kitchen. Clean and sanitize everything or the food poisoning you get may not be from that fast food lunch but from your own kitchen.