Your Kitchen Sink

• Your kitchen sink is literally a breeding ground for germs, with "more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in the drain alone," states MSNBC's Health on Today. And that is not the only problem; the number one germ culprit is the kitchen sponge or washcloth, although the basin and faucet handles teem with bacteria and germs as well. According to Dr. George Szatmari, a microbiologist with Mcgill University, "Your kitchen sink is 6,000 times more contaminated than the average toilet."
  
  

The Contaminants

• Bacteria such as salmonella and e. coli are easily spread across kitchen counters, in sinks and virtually everywhere your washcloth or sponge touches. Fresh fruits and vegetables, children's hands and even pets can provide organisms that rapidly grow in the warm, moist kitchen environment. As John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry notes, "You could eat your dinner in a U.S. toilet, but ... kitchen sinks can be contaminated with fecal organisms."
  
  

Germ Reduction

• While the average, healthy adult can fight off the germs lurking in their kitchen sink, elderly people, young children and those with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable. To reduce the number of germs in your kitchen, wash your sink daily, bleach it twice weekly and run the solution down the drain. Disinfect kitchen cloths and sponges by washing them frequently in either the dishwasher or washing machine or microwave them for a minute.Wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" when working in the kitchen, and clean your counters well, but not with that sponge or cloth!