Microbial Madness: Menacing. Miraculous. Misunderstood.
Bacteria, mold, viruses… Microbes are such a mixed bag. Miraculous wine, vinegar, beer, cheese, and even penicillin. Menacing food poisoning. Misunderstood with the help of marketers and the media. What's your stand? Toss leftovers the second they hit two days old? Always buy antibacterial? What’s under your sink? Personally, I firmly believe that ordinary soap and water take care of virtually all the nasties. It’s how you use it that counts. No anti-bacterial anything for me. Vinegar cleans produce and disinfects the cutting board, Bar Keepers Friend on stubborn pots and sink stains, ammonia cuts grease and shines mirrors, a little bleach on rare occasion. That’s about it. My hang-ups are...
- Sponges. Extremely dangerous, not permitted in my house.
- Kitchen textiles are primary germ transmitters. I’m compulsive about changing my dishcloth/towel at least daily. I wash them in a separate load, without any other laundry. My washer has a sanitize setting which I use for all towels.
- Hands are the other primary transmitter; I wash mine compulsively. Years in healthcare taught me that washing thoroughly (palms, backs, between fingers, wrists, under nails), with hot water, for a minimum of 30 seconds is the key. Kind of soap doesn't matter. Just use one.
So what’s your M.O.?
A. Disinfect and sterilize everything, all the time.
B. Clean where it counts but not obssessive.
C. What germs? I don't see any germs.
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16 Comments:
I have antibacterial soap in the bathroom, along with a nail brush.
I couldn't live without a dishwashing/counterwashing sponge. I spray my counters and cutting boards, stovetop and microwave with my own mixture of Dawn dishwashing liquid (just a little), water and bleach. Scrub with sponge. I then microwave it wet, for 2 minutes, as the last act of cleaning up the kitchen, then remove it so it won't mildew. I use paper towels whenever possible. Towels are washed with bleach. I have hard water (well), and vinegar is great for removing hard water stains. I think I have good practices, without going overboard. I'm no Howard Hughes or Michael Jackson, but I sure would like their bank accounts!
I have a terrible sensitivity to preservatives, especially the ones they use on salad greens in bags and in many, many restaurants. If I forget to ask, I'll know for sure in about 20 minutes and I'll be in pain for a couple of days.
I watched a program about this very subject a few days ago. Of course, they talked about wine, beer, yogurt, beef, cheese, mushrooms, but the one that really shocked me was super moldy corn on the cob. Hideous! They cut it off and sauteed it and swore it was tasty and good for you.
As far as leftovers......if in doubt, throw it out.
PerkyMac at 8:01PM on 12/03/07
p.s. I replace my kitchen sponges very often.
PerkyMac at 8:05PM on 12/03/07
I put my kitchen sponges in the dishwasher on the antibacterial cycle. it is so easy; dishes in, sponge in, ON
My kitchen is meticulous. Always. You can eat off the floor. I keep it like a rolls royce baby!
JerzeeTomato at 9:43PM on 12/03/07
I am careful, wash my hands with soap regularly while cooking, and regularly change the towels, but I don't stress out about it. I'm very careful with raw egg. I always wash my hands with soap whenever I work with them. I don't cook meat poultry or fish, so that's not an issue. I never use bleach or other harsh chemicals. I've also never gotten food poisoning from anything in my kitchen. I let my nose and taste buds decide if leftovers are still good.
By the way, PerkyMac, the corn fungus you talked about is called huitlacoche. It's really common in Mexico and is kind of like a mushroom that grows in corn rather than a tree stump. Nothing to get too worked up about. :)
FigswithBri at 10:51PM on 12/03/07
Thanks for the info FigswithBri (is your name of culinary origins, or is there a lady named Bri? ;)
I always wonder who was the first daring soul to decide to eat some of these frightening looking things. Also wonder how many adventureres got really sick or died? Hmmm. FOOD for thought, eh?
I'm jealous Jerzee - my dishwasher died. RIP
PerkyMac at 11:39PM on 12/03/07
The antibacterial craze is BAD!!! We are essentially breeding super bacteria that are becoming resistant. In medecine, anti biotic drugs are losing their effectiveness because of their over use. The same is true with kitchen and bathroom cleaning products. This is the result of product marketing: they play to your fears and make you buy products that are unnecessary, when regular soaps, detergents, and cleaning chemicals like bleach work perfectly well. If you dont like using bleach (it is pretty toxic and bad for the environment) you can also use vinegar to clean.
I keep things very clean, mop the floor, clean the counters and sinks and stove tops and run the dishwasher every night, but I dont buy antibacterial products, I dont wash my wood utensils or cutting boards with soap, and I mostly just dont worry. Bacteria and fungi are natural part of life. We live in such incredibly sanitary conditions, from the way our foods are processed and handled, to our refrigeration. Unless there is something in your fridge that has grown its own legs and is trying to claw its way out, and you clean often, you have nothing to worry about. I try to focus this energy on thinking of delicious things to eat :)
seyo at 10:30AM on 12/04/07
I like bleach and use it from time to time on my cutting board and kitchen sponge. No antibacterial soap in my house, though.
I have different ideas about food safety than many folks I know. I look at expiration dates as suggestions rather than rules. Especially with cottage cheese. It's already curdled milk, where's it gonna go from there???
AB said on one of his shows that only like one in 40,000 eggs has salmonella, and I pretty much take that as gospel. Many places in the world don't refrigerate eggs at all.
I do make sure to wash everything really well after handling raw chicken though.
Kerosena at 10:31AM on 12/04/07
My mom-the-retired-nurse pointed out that washing your hands (say, when coming in from outside or after being somewhere public) in the kitchen sink deposits all that bacteria right into the sink, where unwashed dishes, utensils and other things lie around. (I have boys, so use your imagination)
Much better to walk the extra steps to the first-floor bathroom and wash there.
moibec at 11:46AM on 12/04/07
I'm a microbiologist/mycologist and I'm pretty lax about sanitizing everything. I wash my kitchen towels with my bath towels with regular detergent with cold water. Yes, you should clean, but there is no reason to overdo it. Seyo is correct about the over antibacterial everything in our lives. Bacteria is actually our friend on a lot of levels...yes we need to limit the bad, but in doing that too much eliminates the good and then we get sick and they mutate to resist. I eat leftovers a couple weeks old sometimes...I've never had food poisioning.
malenky at 11:54AM on 12/04/07
I should have bought stock in Clorox Advantage, Clorox Clean Up and the new Clorox Antibacterial.
I guess thats all I really have to say about that!
ChelleyD01 at 12:03PM on 12/04/07
Malenky, thanks for your call for sanity. We have had a kid die in an NYC hospital from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The prospect of having rampant drug resistant bacteria is scary, and MRSA is already worse than aids in terms of the annual death rate. To think that chemical companies are even allowed to sell these anti bacterial detergents seems so insanely irresponsible. And of course, legislation, especially when it calls for regulation of business, is always years behind the science. I refuse to let my kitchen contribute to evolving new tougher bacteria.
seyo at 1:22PM on 12/04/07
Between Malenky and Seyo I have nothing left to say. The only other thing I have to add is I don't let my kids use the Anti-Bacterial gels at school. I think that because of this, they are some of the only kids at school who aren't sick all of the time. If you look a bottle of Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner it says it kills 99.9% of flu germs. Why does your toilet bowl need to be rid of flu germs? I mean really isn't that going a little over board?
evilchefmom at 2:04PM on 12/04/07
Seyo, the intersting thing about MRSA is that it has been very prevelant in the past but confined to nosocomial infections (hospital acquired infection) but now it is becoming community acquired. Whether this has to do with the on-slaught of more anit-bacterial products, that is still up in the air, but it has most certainly along with over use of antibiotics led to this.
malenky at 3:02PM on 12/04/07
FigsWithBri is right about huitlacoche, it is fantastic! There's a wonderful restaurant in Mazatlan called Topolo that makes a soup out of it -- I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
I agree that we're out of control with the antibacterial craze. Nowadays doctors seem to prescribe antibiotics for everything, and people don't realize that we're killing the good along with the bad, not to mention breeding stonger and stronger harmful bacteria.
CookiePie at 3:55PM on 12/04/07
I wash my hands frequently and carry anti-bac handcleaner in the car just in case. That's as far as my germ-phobia goes. I can't stand dirty hands!
I freely admit I am a rotten housekeeper. I clean something when it needs it, not on a regular basis. I also wash my kitchen towels with other towels and rarely sanitize anything in my kitchen.
I agree that our society is over-sanitized and over antibiotic-ized. We have no immune systems as a result so you could say by being somewhat of a slob I'm doing my part to keep immunity alive!
AuntJone at 8:43PM on 12/04/07
I'm 100% with Seyo on this. The only things I use to clean in my kitchen are a little bleach, vinegar and lots of piping hot water. Everything in moderation, including the pursuit of "cleanliness."
sheeats at 10:37PM on 12/05/07