Kitchen Bacteria: Dangerous or Not?

Bacteria in kitchen are mostly harmless, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Mapping the Kitchen Microbiota in Five European Countries Reveals a Set of Core Bacteria across Countries, Kitchen Surfaces, and Cleaning Utensils

Go to source). “We have previously //found considerable variations in kitchen standards, food preparation practices, and cleaning regimes between France, Norway, Portugal, Romania, and Hungary,” said Birgitte Moen, Ph.D., Scientist—Department of Food Safety and Quality, Nofima—Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Research, Ås, Norway.

Are Kitchen Bacteria Harmful?

In the study, the researchers sampled bacteria populations from sinks, cutting boards, counter tops, handles and cleaning utensils—sponges and cloths—used in kitchens (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
In the Kitchen: Prevent the Spread of Infection

Go to source).

Despite large numbers of species and considerable differences in bacterial diversity between samples, the researchers identified 8 bacterial genera commonly associated with environmental sources in most of the kitchens they sampled, which they characterized as ‘core microbiota.’ These included Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Enhydrobacter, Enterobacteriaceae, Psychrobacter, Chryseobacterium, Bacillus and Staphylococcus.

In the report, the authors stressed that the core microbiota persisted despite considerable differences between kitchens in the study. Some kitchens lacked running water, some lacked an indoor sink and some lacked dishwashers. They also persisted despite differing food preparation methods, dietary habits and differences in hand and kitchen hygiene, both of which affect the probability of infection.

The study was motivated by the authors’ curiosity, said Moen. Bacteria in food, in the gut, in hospitals and in professional food production had been well researched, but little was known about the microbes that inhabit the domestic kitchen. With an already existing collaboration across countries, “we had a unique opportunity to dig into this,” Moen added.

The team knew that harmful bacteria enter kitchens via contaminated food, and that the type of these bacteria varied across countries. For example, Salmonella is not a problem in Norway, but it is the most commonly reported cause of food-borne illness in mainland Europe. Knowledge of the bacteria inhabiting the domestic kitchen could be used to help prevent human illness, and perhaps could even lead to more hygienic kitchen designs and better cleaning utensils, said Moen.

References:

1. Mapping the Kitchen Microbiota in Five European Countries Reveals a Set of Core Bacteria across Countries, Kitchen Surfaces, and Cleaning Utensils - (https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.00267-23)
2. In the Kitchen: Prevent the Spread of Infection - (https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=1220)

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Source-Eurekalert