Bacterial Occurrence in Kitchen Hand Towels

Charles P. Gerba, Akrum H. Tamimi, Sherri Maxwell, Laura Y. Sifuentes, Douglas R. Hoffman, David W. Koenig Biblographic citation: Food Protection Trends, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 312-317, Sep 2014 Volume 34, Issue 5: Pages 312–317

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.

Subscribe Today

Subscribe to Food Protection Trends to stay up to date on the information you need, including scientific research and articles reporting on a variety of food safety and quality topics.

Request Permission to Reuse Content

This link will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center where you can submit a request to reuse IAFP’s content found in our publications. Please note that no part of any publications may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior permission from IAFP.