"Debbie Deutsch" > wrote in message
. 97.132...
> "Vox Humana" > wrote in
> :
>
> >
> > "John White" > wrote in message
> > om...
> >> To my horror, I saw a family member knock a kitchen towel off the
> >> rack onto the floor, then pick it back up and place it on the rack.
> >>
> >
> > To be realistic, kitchen towels and sponges are vectors for the spread
> > of germs in your kitchen. I doubt that the germs on the floor are
> > more pathogenic than the germs on your counters. That probably seems
> > counter-intuitive, but I suspect it is true. You hands, sink, and
> > counter come into contact with contaminated food and the towel just
> > spread the contamination. The floor isn't as likely to have raw
> > poultry or eggs on it. I would just get rid of the towel instead of
> > finding a way to keep them around longer. I use paper towels for most
> > cleaning. When I do use a kitchen towel, I only use it once.
> >
> >
> >
>
> At the risk of controversy, people may be worrying too much about germs.
> We don't live in a sterile environment, and never will. Some bacteria
> can be very bad and following good procedure is important to minimize
> their risk. The "bad" germs are mostly the ones that grow on and in
> food, not the ones we associated with dirt or general things in the air.
> For example, it makes good sense to keep a separate cutting board for raw
> poultry and to thoroughly clean it, knives, your hands after each use.
> On the other hand, there are plenty of other germs around, and our bodies
> are designed to deal with them. Unless one's immune system is
> compromised due to disease or other frailty, they are not a big deal.
> That's good, because we can't get rid of them anyway. They are in the
> air, on our clothes, on and in our bodies, and on every tool and object
> that we use.
>
> Restaurants and other food preparation facilities must take special care
> against food-borne diseases and the general issue of avoiding wide-spead
> problems due to contaminated food being distributed to a large
> population. Remember that at home a lot of food is fresh and prepared
> for immediate consumption - this is a lot less problematic than food that
> is put up in cans or jars for later use.
>
> (FWIW, if someone in your home is sneezing, no amount of kitchen
> cleanliness is going to eliminate your chance of catching his cold.
> Besides which, colds are viral and not affected by things that kill
> bacteria.)
>
> To put this in perspective, I think about how my cats clean themselves
> with their tongues. If my floors were breeding grounds of deadly
> bacteria, certainly my cats were be under daily assault. However two are
> very happy and healthy at 15 and show no indications of slowing down.
> Remember that understanding about germs is a very recent thing in human
> history. Until then, humans have had the same biological need to resist
> environmental bacteria as my cats. It makes sense to keep things clean,
> but we generally don't need a sterile environment to be healthy.
>
> Debbie

Thanks for the excellent, clear post. As you say, many people are fearful of
"germs" because they are ignorant. I find it useful to buy inexpensive
towels in large quantities - several dozen at a time. Then I can always grab
a clean one when there is any question that the previous one has been
contaminated.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.