An unexpected kitchen item could be the biggest culprit for spreading germs, according to new research.
It's not the sink, or the cutting board, or even the garbage can -- it's the spice rack.
A new study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, found that spice containers have some of the highest contamination levels for microbes and bacteria.
That's because they're rarely cleaned, and often grabbed without properly washing your hands first.
Cutting boards and trash can lids were also high on the list of contaminated items, while sink handles were among the cleanest.
"In addition to more obvious surfaces like cutting boards, garbage can lids and refrigerator handles, here's something else that you need to pay attention to when you're trying to be clean and sanitary in your kitchen," study co-author Donald Schaffner, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food Science at Rutgers, said in a statement. "Our research shows that any spice container you touch when you're preparing raw meat might get cross-contaminated. You'll want to be conscious of that during or after meal preparation."
The study, published in the Journal of Food Protection, set out to determine how pathogens move throughout a kitchen environment when consumers are preparing food, as one in five cases of foodborne illnesses is acquired in the home.
"Salmonella and Campylobacter account for 1 million and 0.8 million foodborne infections per year in the United States, respectively," the study noted. "Clearly, improper handling of raw poultry, such as inadequate cooking, poor hand washing, and cross-contamination of ready-to-eat foods in the home, can result in the development of foodborne illness from such pathogens."
The experiment involved 371 adults cooking identical meals of seasoned turkey burgers and ready-to-eat salads in a consumer test kitchen. The burger patties contained a nonhazardous "tracer organism" that allowed researchers to track the movement of microbes and assess cross-contamination.
Participants weren't informed that researchers would be examining their food safety behaviors until after they had prepared the meal. Once the meals were prepared, researchers swabbed 12 areas throughout the kitchen -- including utensils, pan handles, cleaning areas, dishcloths/sponges, and surfaces like fridge handles and trash bin lids. After watching the participants, researchers also decided to take samples from new categories such as spice containers and sink faucet handles.
Overall, the tracer organism was detected across all objects, but the prevalence and concentration varied. Contamination frequency was less than 20% for most objects, but one unlikely item stood out at close to 50%.
The study found that spice containers had the highest concentration of the tracer organism, with 48% of the samples showing evidence of cross-contamination.
"We were surprised because we had not seen evidence of spice container contamination before," Schaffner said.
Cutting boards and trash can lids were the second and third most contaminated surfaces.
"Even when participants did not use the cutting board, it was frequently on the counter while they were preparing food and may have been indirectly contaminated," the study noted. "The trash bin lid was significantly more contaminated than the dishcloth and sponge and the faucet handle, which could be due to direct contact with raw turkey packaging, hands, or repeated contact."
Faucet handles were the least contaminated object studied.
Researchers say the study provides deeper knowledge about how cross-contamination occurs in home kitchens, and the data can help create more targeted consumer messaging to better influence consumer cross-contamination behaviors.
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