Some time ago, a reader reported to us that the bowls and plates washed at home would be stacked together and put in the cupboard, and then when they were used again, they would find that a friend told him that such a habit might lead to secondary pollution of dishes.
Is this true? Today we're going to do a set of experiments to see how to store dishes correctly and how to wash them.
First, we conducted a set of trials. The experimenter first disinfected the tableware, coated the surface of the tableware with sterile broth, and then divided the tableware into two groups, one of which was washed and stacked directly in the cupboard for storage, and the other group was washed and placed on the shelf and placed in a ventilated place. After three days of comparison, we found that the total number of colonies of standing tableware was 8,000 cfu sets, which met the relevant health standards of our country, while the number of bacteria stacked was 560,000 cfu sets, which was 70 times that of standing tableware. The level of bacterial colonies varies so much!
What are the health risks that these bacteria pose to our bodies? In the short term, for example, some pathogenic bacteria, the most common pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and some viruses, may cause us acute gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhea and even dehydration, shock, and life-threatening.
Long-term exposure may cause cancer, and some studies have even shown that it is related to liver cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer and other cancers. Therefore, health problems in the kitchen must be paid attention to, and the disinfection of tableware must be done, including when storing, to prevent the breeding of bacteria or viruses.
So, how do you store your dishes properly? Several necessary conditions are required for bacteria to grow: nutrients, the right temperature, and the presence of water. No matter how we wash our dishes, chopsticks or dishes, it is impossible to wash them particularly cleanly, and even a little food residue can be used as nutrients for bacteria.
If you put it on top of each other, a lot of water accumulates, and the room temperature is right, bacteria will grow wildly. Therefore, the correct way to place it is easy to drain the water after standing up, and even if there is a little food residue, it is not easy to breed bacteria.
In addition to the correct way of storage, the correct way to wash dishes is also very important. Some bad dishwashing habits not only fail to really clean the dishes and chopsticks, but breed a lot of bacteria. First of all, don't wait until you are free to wash the dishes, especially the bowl of porridge, if you don't wash it immediately, it will become difficult to clean after air drying. Secondly, the dishcloth must be replaced regularly and sterilized at high temperature.
It is best not to apply the detergent directly to the bowl, but to dilute it and brush the dishes with a dishcloth dipped in it. The most commonly used disinfection method is high-temperature disinfection, which can kill most bacteria and viruses after boiling it for more than 5 to 10 minutes.
Therefore, for the dishes in our home, we must pay attention to the correct storage and dishwashing methods to protect the health of our family. Hopefully, these tips will help. Come and learn the correct way to store dishes and wash dishes to avoid secondary pollution!