Office Teabags Contain More Germs Than a Toilet Seat

There can be far more bacteria on a shared box of tea bags than the average toilet seat. This revolting revelation was discovered by Initial Washroom Hygiene during a swabbing study conducted in several office locations across Britain. Most workplaces offer free coffee and tea for their employees, maybe, apparently to keep them 'active' during office hours and the staff are more than happy to sip a few cups with no second thoughts.

Peter Barratt of Initial Washroom Hygiene believes that office workers should be more aware of hygiene in their communal kitchens. According to scientists, the average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat.

The study took a poll of 1,000 workers and found that 80 percent of people working in an office wouldn’t think to wash their hands before making drinks for colleagues. Being aware of a mug’s owner is also important – more than one in 10 people surveyed admitting to accidentally mixed up mugs on a tea run, with five percent saying they have deliberately mixed them up.

Dr Barratt says: "If you stop to think about the number of different hands that touch things such as the kettle handle, tea bag box lid, mugs, and so on, the potential for cross contamination really adds up," he explains.

He added: "Using anti-bacterial wipes on kitchen surfaces and regularly cleaning your mug can pay huge dividends in terms of maintaining a healthy workforce."

Source-Medindia