Sponges and Cutting Boards: Notorious Repositories of Bacteria in the Kitchen

Among the different places and rooms in the house, the kitchen is probably that one area where bacteria grow vigorously. And of the many things found and used in the kitchen, two items notoriously stand out for their being repositories of bacteria: sponges and cutting boards. Many of the bacteria that harbor in cutting boards and sponges are those that are known to cause food-borne maladies.

Cutting boards and sponges used in washing dishes, pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils often contain two kinds of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus (or golden staph), a bacterium which frequently dwells in a person's nose or on the skin, is known to cause minor skin disorders, such as boils, pimples, carbuncles, cellulitis, furuncles, and abscesses.

In more serious cases, it can cause meningitis, pneumonia, septicemia, and toxic shock syndrome - diseases that are life-threatening. The other kind of bacterium that cutting boards and sponges in the kitchen usually contain is Salmonella, a motile enterobacterium that causes food poisoning, gastrointestinal inflammation, and typhoid fever.

Each year, millions of people get sick of the various diseases and disorders mentioned here because of those two bacteria found in sponges and cutting boards. To lessen the risks, there are some preventive steps that we can take. Sponges, for example, should be disinfected by soaking them in about one liter of water mixed with one teaspoon of any disinfectant, especially chlorine.

Before using the sponges again, let them air-dry completely. There are antibacterial sponges sold in the market that are touted to be safer to use than the conventional or ordinary type of sponges. However, pertinent laboratory examinations done reveal that these antibacterial sponges are no better than the ordinary ones. We should, therefore, not have too much confidence on the safety of this type of sponges.