Even a seemingly spotlessly clean kitchen can harbour its dirty secrets. Bacteria can form in places that you don't think about and quickly spread to the cutlery, worktop, chopping board and finally to your hands with the food in your body. 

 

 

Microbes are invisible to the naked eye, but there's no need to panic: with a little precaution and special attention to the typically forgotten bacterial hotspots, you can keep your kitchen hygienically clean.

 

The dirtiest places in the kitchen

 

The handle on the fridge

 

It is often microbes that typically come from poultry, pork and beef that settle on the fridge handle and are then spread everywhere with your hands. When preparing the chicken, you carelessly reach into the drawer for the knife and have already spread the bacteria to the drawer handle and other cutlery. The easiest way to avoid cross-contamination is to wash your hands properly immediately after handling the food. To wash your hands hygienically, soap them for 15 seconds. Turn off the tap with a paper towel, as your hands are not yet clean. After the soap has taken effect, rinse thoroughly and dry with a clean towel.

 

Water from the tap

 

This brings us to the next dirty secret: the tap and the water. Clean water is taken for granted these days. However, occasionally there is contamination in the groundwater, especially after heavy rain. A burst pipe in the system can also contaminate the water. Water from the tap should only be used for consumption if it has been boiled or tested and found to be clean. Alternatively, you can have filters fitted to the tap or fill water into filter containers. 

As described above, the tap handle should only be touched with clean hands or a paper towel.

 

Kitchen towel

 

As the kitchen towel is used to dry freshly washed dishes, it is easy to think that the towel is clean and germ-free. However, after wiping the crockery or worktop, the towel remains damp and thus provides an ideal habitat for bacteria. Kitchen towels should be washed regularly in hot water and replaced with a fresh one after no more than three days of use. 

 

 

Sponge and dishcloth

 

Although sponges and cloths are often soaked in washing-up liquid, they are by no means hygienic. In fact, sponges and dishcloths are the most contaminated items in the kitchen with bacteria. 

Under no circumstances should you clean the sink with the same sponge as the worktop and other surfaces in the kitchen. 

Dishcloths should be replaced regularly with new ones or boiled. A good method is to put the sponge and cloth in the microwave, as the high heat kills the majority of microbes.

 

Sink

 

The sink is teeming with bacteria, especially E. coli and salmonella. This is why you should not wipe the sink and then the worktop with the same cloth, as this spreads the bacteria throughout the kitchen. 

The sink drain is an additional source of bacteria. If the drain is not cleaned occasionally, it provides excellent food not only for bacteria, but also for cockroaches, ants and maggots. 

To clean the sink, boiling water should be poured into the sink once a week. Disinfect with bleach from time to time.