You’d think it would be the sink — the drain gives a lot of people goosebumps and the sponge is the “disgusting” champ — but the dirtiest place in your kitchen, even by a good recipe, is somewhere else around.
According to a study conducted by a group of researchers from North Carolina State University and Rutgers University, both in the United States, and published in November in the Journal of Food Protection, the most harmful place is the spice rack.
To determine what the danger zone of the kitchen was, the scientists asked 371 participants to prepare a recipe for turkey pies intentionally contaminated with an easily detectable bacterium that does not affect humans, MS2, and a salad.
While most surfaces had no more than 20% contaminated samples after the meal ended, the pots used to store peppers, oregano, rosemary and other ingredients reached 48% of the contamination, with high levels of bacteria at the sites testing positive.
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“The high levels of MS2 on spice shelves resulted in significant surface differences,” the researchers wrote, who further concluded that the containers “are vehicles of crosscontamination, despite the lack of previous reports.”
“We were surprised because we had not previously seen any signs of contamination on spice shelves. Most research into crosscontamination of surfaces in the kitchen from handling raw meat or poultry products has focused on cutting boards or faucets,” commented Professor Donald Schaffner, who led the group of scholars, told the specialist website Food Safety News.
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In view of the results, the researcher gives tips for amateur and professional chefs: Pay particular attention to the places where you constantly use your hands.
“Aside from those more obvious surfaces like cutting boards, trash can lids and fridge handles, there’s something else you need to be aware of when trying to keep your kitchen clean: our research shows that every spice jar you touch while preparing is going to be touched raw meat can be contaminated,” he warns.
So before you reach for the small pot to season the meat, it is best to wash your hands before you spread bacteria in the kitchen and food.