Cleaning and Health Part 2: Defense Against Bacteria

Blog 2: Cleaning and Health: Defense Against Bacteria

In Blog #1 I discussed how e-cloths are better for your health because they permit you to clean dirt and grime and grease and oil and everything else without using expensive and even hazardous household cleaning chemicals. But now I would like to discuss an even more dangerous cleaning challenge: bacteria.

According to Consumer Reports, chicken breasts are America’s most popular main dish, and chicken is also a leading cause of food poisoning. In tests of chicken reported in the February, 2014 edition of the magazine, 97% of chicken breasts that they tested (they tested a total of 316 different chicken breast samples purchased from national grocery chains, big-box stores, and regional markets in 26 states) harbored bacteria that can make you sick, including “organic” chicken. Since that time, the federal government has instituted stricter inspection standards, which before 2016 only applied to whole chickens, not chicken parts like breasts. Under current rules, no more than about 15% of samples from any chicken producer is allowed to be contaminated with salmonella, and no more than about 8% can test positive for campylobacter. Whew! I feel a lot safer now, knowing that only one out of every six or seven chicken breasts is infected with salmonella, and one out of every twelve has campylobacter bacteria.

But, hold on here.  The US Department of Agriculture estimates that the new rules will only prevent 50,000 of the almost 2 million cases of foodborne salmonella and campylobacter that occur every year.  Hmmm, not that great of an improvement. And, to make matters worse, it is estimated that over 40 million people fall sick each year from eating tainted food (from all different kinds of foods and bacteria, so the problem is not just limited to chicken).

So, what can you do to prevent getting sick from preparing and eating chicken (and other foods prone to harboring dangerous bacteria)? Clearly, being picky about which type of chicken you purchase or where you purchase it is not likely to be an effective remedy. And, of course, it is crucially important that you adequately cook your chicken (and other foods) to the recommended internal temperatures to kill the bacteria in the food (and ALWAYS assume that your chicken is infected with bacteria) before consuming the food. For example, chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit which kills the bacteria.

But, what about the bacteria that you are exposed to while preparing the food. If raw chicken touches a plate, you have to assume that the plate now has dangerous bacteria on it.  If raw chicken touches a cutting board, then you have to assume that the cutting board has dangerous bacteria on it. If you routinely wash chicken before cooking it, you have to assume that an area up to 3 feet from the sink has been contaminated with bacteria from the splash and spray associated with washing the chicken.  If your hands touch the raw chicken, you have to assume that your hands have dangerous bacteria on them. And then, everything your hands touch (pot handles and lids, door and drawer pulls, etc.) probably have those bacteria on them, too. And what about drips of water that have been on the chicken, or hand, dropping onto your floor?

Well, I want to share an amazing fact with you. The e-cloth, using only water, removes over 99% of bacteria, including salmonella and campylobacter and other bad actors like E. coli and Listeria.

This is rather hard to believe. I mean, come on, it’s a cloth, not a bottle of bleach (but then again, I don’t really fancy soaking my chicken in bleach before eating it--back to Blog #1 about the use of dangerous chemicals in cleaning products).

Really, no lie. The e-cloth company commissioned the internationally accredited Silliker Group (these folks are the leading food testing organization in the world, with over 45 labs worldwide and with clients like Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, and McDonald’s). They were charged with testing the cleaning power of e-cloths and water on hard surfaces that had been contaminated with different common bacteria using standard micro-biological research protocols. What did they find out?

Using just water, the results showed that e-cloths removed over 99% of bacteria. Further tests showed that after a rinse with hot water, e-cloths retained just 0.01% of the bacteria that they removed. Here are some of the data:

                                                   Bacteria Removal Test Results (in %)            

So, if you want to protect yourself and your family from foodborne bacteria accidently getting on and infecting your hard kitchen surfaces like kitchen countertops, sinks, dishes, knives and cutlery, etc. you can wash everything like crazy, or you can use an e-cloth and water to keep those surfaces bacteria free and safe before, during, and after food preparation.