Christy Bella
Table of Contents
Our world today pretty much revolves around health, hygiene, and sanitation. So it’s quite alarming to know that Brits apparently have a lot of common unhygienic habits — particularly in the kitchen area.
So apart from the basic reminder to constantly wash your hands, when preparing food or otherwise, here are some other tips that will help you make sure that your kitchen is clean and germ-free.
Declutter and disinfect your countertops
Remove all the items that you don’t regularly use for cooking. Also, practice refraining from leaving keys, receipts, bills, and paper bags on your countertops and try to keep it as clutter-free as possible at all times.
Just keeping essentials, will not only give you more workspace, but it will also make it so much easier for you to regularly clean your countertops. Make sure to make it a habit to practice wiping up spills right away to avoid build-up of icky, possibly germ-collecting, residue.
Clean the sink after every use
They say that kitchen sinks are actually one of the dirtiest spots in your home. Eileen Abruzzo, Director of Infection Control at Long Island College Hospital of Brooklyn, New York, even says that your toilet bowl might actually be cleaner than your kitchen sink.
You wouldn’t dare prepare food for your family near the toilet now, would you? So to avoid that nasty mental image from becoming a reality, make it a habit to clean and scrub down your sink after washing the dishes.
Use separate chopping boards for meats and vegetables
Your chopping board may not look suspicious, but the cracks and cutting indentations on your board are actually really good hiding spots and breeding grounds for germs and bacteria.
It is recommended to use separate chopping boards for meat and product to avoid the risk of cross-contamination of harmful bacteria like E.coli and salmonella. Apart from having at least two separate chopping boards, it is also advisable for you to replace your chopping boards every 12 months.
If you don’t have the time or are still bound by quarantine regulations, there are shops online like oliverskitchen.co.uk that have a selection of beautiful, easy to clean, and durable cutting boards in different sizes that you can browse and choose from.
Change your rags and dish towels regularly
It’s important to note that germs love damp places. This is why your rags and towels are pretty much a bacteria playground if you don’t wash and replace them regularly.
Quite similar to rags and dish towels, sponges are often left damp or soaked in water. To avoid bacteria growing on your sponges, make sure to keep them dry when not in use and consider replacing them as often as necessary.
Take out the rubbish daily
Seems pretty basic, but a lot of people actually need to be reminded to take out their trash daily, especially if there are raw food or biodegradables in your trash. Making it a habit to throw your trash regularly will not only save you from the foul stench of rotting food, but also prevents you from growing bacteria in your bins that attract common pests like ants, roaches, and rats.
Rinse all fruits and vegetables (even the ones you don’t eat)
We have no way of knowing how many hands have held your fruits, or if there are any traces of soil, bugs, and germs that could be lingering on your veggies. So just to be safe, just practice due diligence and wash all fruits and veggies that enter your home before using them for cooking or eating them directly.
Make sure to store food properly
We can clean and disinfect surfaces all we want, but if we don’t practice proper food handling and storage, then we might as well just throw sanitation out the window.
If you’re unsure of how to handle and properly store certain food items, it would be great to build up the habit of looking up the recommended ways of handling, organizing, and storing your food.
In a time where health risks are highlighted, maintaining good hygiene and sanitation practices really plays a large role in minimizing the risk of exposure and getting sick from viruses and other potential pathogens. So, stay safe, and please don’t get tired of keeping yourself and your environment clean and germ-free.
