The washing of hands before and after eating basic hygiene practice taught to all ever since childhood. This is a common knowledge that basically keeps sickness and diseases at bay.
Food that causes illnesses occuring within the home can also be acquired not just because of poor hygiene but also in food preparation. Cleaning cutting boards, dishes, utensils and counter tops with hot soapy after food preparation is the same with washing hands before and after handling food, This is based on the safe food handling advice given by the government .
U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that various common practices within the kitchen are more possible to lead to contamination.
University of Georgia's researchers have come up to a series of study that focused on how E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella enteric spreads through kitchen utensils.
The researchers contaminated different kinds of fruits and vegetables with some pathogens and observed how the pathogens are transferred by cutting and grating the contaminated fruits and vegetables.
Cross-contamination was caused by knives and graters during the process. The pathogens had been transferred among the produce items because of unwashed utensils.
After shredding vaccinated carrots, all graters had been contaminated and the amount of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria on the utensils were extensively greater than Salmonella. Enrichment culture can only identify the contamination of knives after using it in inoculated produce.
The researchers also discovered that there are different degrees on how a certain fruits and vegetables transfer pathogens to knives. Based on their experiment, the average prevalence of knife contamination by two pathogens upon slicing tomatoes was 43 percent compared to honeydew melons which have 17 percent, while strawberries was 15 percent, 7 percent for cucumbers and 3 percent to cantaloupes.
"We don't have a specific answer as to why there are differences between the different produce groups," Marilyn Erickson, an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said. "But we do know that once a pathogen gets on the food, it's difficult to remove."
"Just knowing that utensils may lead to cross-contamination is important," Erickson added. "With that knowledge, consumers are then more likely to make sure they wash them in between uses."
