Kitchen Hygiene: Prepare Your Defenses

Unless you want to live in a kitchen that looks like a surgical ward you are never going to eliminate bugs altogether. So the next best thing is to learn how to control them, and to do that you need to understand their habits.

In order to survive all bugs need four things; food, moisture, warmth and time. Deprive them of any of these and you have them under control.

Please note, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will die. It’s much more likely that they will simply become inactive, but in the battle against the bugs that’s a huge step forward.

Food
Bugs will live on anything we eat and a whole lot more we’d rather not. Bear in mind there doesn’t have to be very much of it to feed millions of them. In fact, the morsel may be so small that you cannot even see it.

Which is why cleaning down your work surfaces is so important. This needs to be very thorough indeed and should include scrubbing, especially when changing from handling raw foods to cooked.

That’s also why it’s very important to clean up anything you spill as soon as possible.

Warmth
Anything between 5°/40°F and 60°C/140°F is the equivalent of a bug holiday resort. At temperatures lower than that, such as your fridge, they will become inactive.

Take careful note; the word is “inactive”. They do not die. Many will not die even when frozen. They do what anyone with any sense does, they wrap up warm and go to sleep.

At temperatures over 60°C. bugs will start to die and prolonged cooking will wipe them out. But this may not apply to their spores or the toxins they produce. The lesson here is, whether raw or cooked, when food is not in use keep it in the fridge. And of course the fridge itself must be kept at a temperature below 5°C/40°. Most domestic refrigerators have a default setting of 4°C/39.2°F

Moisture
Want to know how to get instant bugs? Just add water.

The important thing is to dry everything thoroughly, including your hands after washing them. This is a fact; wet hands are 1000 times more likely to transfer germs than dry ones.

Remember what we said about water droplets? The tiniest amount of moisture is all that is needed for bugs to multiply in number. To give you some idea of what this means, an ordinary wedding ring with moisture trapped between it and the skin could easily be home to a colony of bugs with a population the same size as that of the United States.

Scary? I’ll say!

Time
Think about this. Simply by dividing itself in two again and again, a single bug can become 8 million mischief-making little critters in the space of four hours.

So don’t give it the four hours!

I repeat for those who weren’t listening the first time, food that is not in use should either be in the fridge or in the cooker. The exceptions are raw vegetables, which should be stored in a cool dark place, and fruit that may be kept in a bowl and should be washed before eating.

Of the four factors affecting the growth of bugs, time is the most critical one as well as being the one you can do most about.

Here is a general rule of thumb to bear in mind: any food, whether cooked or raw, that has been standing at room temperature for two hours or more should be considered contaminated and treated accordingly. In the case of cooked food, this means throwing it out.

Yes I really mean that. Only eat it if you are the sort of person who likes a good old-fashioned game of Russian roulette or runs red lights just for the fun of it.

Raw meat that has been left hanging about should be washed with vinegar (which is a mild disinfectant) and cooked immediately. DO NOT put it back in the fridge and DO NOT freeze it for later. It’s also important to thoroughly clean any surface it has been in contact with, including your hands, and any area they may have touched after handling the meat.

That doesn’t mean rinsing the tips of your fingers, by the way. It means thoroughly washing your hands with soap and warm water. And if possible, drying them just as thoroughly on a disposable paper towel.

Your personal hygiene is a critical factor in keeping your kitchen safe. It’s important to you, I know, and of course you take all the usual precautions. But not every one does. A recent survey in the United States revealed that 50% of men and 25% of women fail to wash their hands after using the toilet.

There are plenty of other instances where hands that should be washed are not, mainly because people are not aware of the potential hazards. Did you know, for example, that around 50,000 bugs can live on a single strand of hair? Can you honestly say that you have never touched your hair while in the kitchen without washing your hands afterwards?

You’re not alone if your answer is ‘no’. Not many people can. In fact, most of the time we wouldn’t even notice we’d made such a gesture. So how do we avoid contamination?

I have three golden rules which I urge you to adopt. They’re very simple and easy to do.

1. Always wash and dry your hands after handling raw foods.
2. Always wash and dry your hands immediately before preparing any food which requires no further cooking.
3. Always wash and dry your hands each time you enter the kitchen.

Make that last one a habit. Make it automatic.

You’re in the middle of cooking something and the doorbell goes. You answer it, chat for a while and come back to the kitchen.

Wash your hands!

The phone rings while you’re preparing the salad. You answer it, chat for a while and hang up.

Wash your hands!

Your partner/child/pet comes in and there is a physical exchange of affection that involves touching clothing, skin or hair - what do you do?.....

Now you've got it!