Study - 1/4 of Used Kitchen Hand Towels Analyzed Contained E. coli

A study on cleanliness of used handtowels published in Food Protection Trends shows that about 1/4 of the used hand towels collected from over 80 kitchens and analyzed had E. coli present. This is one of the primary reasons why dishes should be air dried instead of wipe dried.  The kitchen hand towel gets used over and over throughout the day, and people often forget what they used the towel to wipe last (insert butt joke here).  It is not uncommon for towels to be used for a number of days.  This not only provides more opportunity for introduction of bacteria, but allows for the growth of bacteria.  Leaving them air dry does not get rid of the bacteria. It is important that people change out towels throughout the day as they go from task to task.  Then the used towels should be collected to prevent reentry into the kitchen without first going into the wash.  When washing, hot water, detergent and bleach.

 

From the report:

"E. coli numbers also were related to the frequency of washing, with numbers on towels being lower the more often they were washed. Age of the towel and days since last time washed did not influence the concentration of any of the bacteria in the towels. The results suggest that E. coli is particularly easily removed during washing or requires an unusually long time to colonize and grow in the towels. Coliforms, E. coli and Salmonella can survive the drying of kitchen cleaning cloths and regrow if the cloth becomes soiled again (3)."

 

 Of course, not all E. coli are pathogens, but they are indicators of insanitary conditions, that is, show a high correlation to fecal contamination, and may indicate the potential for other pathogens to be present.

 

 

Food Protection Trends  Sept - Oct, 2014

Bacterial Occurrence in Kitchen Hand Towels

    

By Charles P. Gerba, Akrum H. Tamimi, Sherri Maxwell, Laura Y. Sifuentes, Douglas R. Hoffman and David W. Koenig

 

 Abstract

The common occurrence of enteric bacteria in kitchen sponges and dishcloths suggests that they can play a role in the cross-contamination of foods, fomites and hands by foodborne pathogens. This study investigated the occurrence of bacteria in kitchen towels often used to dry dishes, hands and other surfaces in the domestic kitchen. A total of 82 kitchen hand towels were collected from households in five major cities in the United States and Canada and the numbers of heterotrophic bacteria, coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli in each towel were determined. In addition, identification of the enteric bacteria was performed on selected towels. Coliform bacteria were detected in 89.0% and E. coli in 25.6% of towels. The presence of E. coli was related to the frequency of washing.