Kitchen, sink, tap, source of infection: Study

Chennai, Sep 10 (UNI) Hark! Your kitchen may put your health at stake.

A kitchen cloth, sink or tap can be a source of infection if you do not disinfect them regularly, warns an In-home swabbing study conducted by the Global Hygiene Council.

The study, conducted across seven countries, including the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and India, had completely overturned people's belief about the risk of infections inside home as it points to high-level of bacterial contamination in regularly used articles like kitchen cloth and tap.

While 10 per cent Indians believe that you can catch infection at home, majority of people feel they face the highest risk from toilet area. Only six per cent see kitchen tap as a source of germ pick up.

The study also reveals the poor handwashing habits among Indians as 18 per cent of them do not wash their hands before eating or handling food.

It asserts that the poor handwashing habits combined with high incidence of bacterial contamination in kitchen increases the chances of getting infected at home.

Presenting the results, Reckitt Benckiser (India) Limited Chairman and Managing Director Chander Mohan Sethi said '' the results shows that the public is absolutely oblivious to the manner in which germs are transferred through various surfaces even at home and clearly needs awareness on good hygiene habits.'' The study team collected physical swabs from different surfaces inside home, including kitchen tap, working surface, sink, kitchen cloth and refrigerator.

Microbiological testing done on them to check presence of germs causing diarrhoea and respiratory and skin infections revealed that 100 per cent of homes had kitchen cloths highly contaminated with illness causing germs, 90 per cent of homes kitchen cooking surface 85 per cent kitchen taps, 83 per cent sink and 79 per cent refrigerators had a high level of bacteria, the study added.

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