With news of rising deaths and sicknesses in the cantaloupe-listeria outbreak, we have been reminded that keeping knives, surfaces, and even our food clean is of utmost importance. From washing those fruits and veggies to using homemade cleaners, here are our top tips for keeping contaminants out of the kitchen.
Some of these steps may seem overly cautious, but we're big believers in putting clean things in our bodies. And really, following these tips doesn't slow down our cooking routines at all; but it does give us peace of mind to know we are taking simple steps to protect our family in our own kitchen.
• Wash your produce—even if it's organic.
• Utilize separate cutting boards for meats, and only meats.
• Be sure to wash your produce well, even if you plan to peel it. Bacteria and other icky stuff that resides on the skin of fruit (like cantaloupe) and vegetables will be pulled all the way through the fruit from the skin via the knife.
• Make your own fruit and veggie wash by combining three parts water with one part vinegar. This will get your produce just as clean as any commercially-available product and will cost mere pennies to make. And no, the vinegar taste doesn't stick around to ruin that crunchy bite of apple.
• Always wash your hands before and after preparing foods.
• When working with raw meats, be sure not to cross-contaminate your kitchen by touching the meat and then touching a surface; if you do, sanitize handles, countertops, and jars before the next meal.
• Remember to keep your reusable bags clean! Run them through the washing machine every few trips.
Have any other tips to keep contaminants in our kitchens at bay? Do share!
Related posts:
• Simple Green: Wash Your Produce, Even If It's Organic
• Survey: Do You Clean Your Reusable Shopping Bags?
• Product Guide: BPA-Free Canned Foods
(Image: Amber Byfield for Re-Nest.)
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Thanks for bringing this up. It's sad that people rinse their food (or hands, for that matter) and expect it to kill the bacteria. Newsflash: water feeds bacteria. You need a substance that will break down the cell walls. I wonder if lemon juice or vinegar, or any other food substance, is enough to truly sanitize the food. Once bacteria gets in, it can usually travel right into the solids so I would not trust cantelope to be 100 percent safe. I think listeria is still pretty rare but worth thinking about.
Great tips. I would add these three things:
1. Make sure to clean off your counter/cooking surface with something disinfecting (I use either vinegar in a spray bottle or HOT water and soap) after cooking with meat. Even if you use a dedicated cutting board/mat, it's not that hard for a microscopic bit to dribble on the counter.
2. Make sure to replace your kitchen sponges frequently, and in between, pop them in a hot dishwasher (should be lucky enough to have one!) or microwave them for two minutes to kill germs.
3. Replace your kitchen towels often and launder them in hot.
I am the most sanitary, paranoid person in the kitchen because I've been hospitalized for severe food poisoning of various forms on about 6 occasions in the past 5 years. All from food other people cooked :( Including a roommate, and I was the only one who fell ill. These are all excellent tips.
I once read that microwaving or boiling sponges is more effective than putting them through a dishwasher cycle.
What's the verdict on designating a wood or plastic cutting board for meat? I've heard/read conflicting reports!
@KathiSue that's a good question, call your local butcher or better yet email the CDC for an answer. I would go to the professionals for safety on that one.
I was given a wooden cutting board and instructed not to cut meat on it. I would think bacteria and other nastiness would have an easier time to soak in and stay there.
There's actually been some research on using wood cutting boards for raw meat because the wood absorbs the bacteria into the core so its no longer sitting on the surface.
@KathiSue Which cutting board you use is a matter of personal choice. Professionals have been saying for years that wood is bad, but many studies have been done to prove that makes wood just as safe as plastic when basic food safety is observed (and both are equally unsafe when not). As someone else stated, pathogens are absorbed into the wood below the cutting surface, trapped there, and eventually die (wood has natural antibacterial properties).
In either case you probably have a different cutting board for raw meat (and apparently raw fruits/veggies with the listeria outbreak), and also replace once the surfaces become deeply grooved with cuts.
edit: In either case you probably *want to* have a different cutting board....