After washing the dishes, many people habitually stack the dishes together and put them in the cupboard before they are completely dry. A few days ago, the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute found that this habit will bring the risk of secondary pollution to the tableware and may endanger health.
The experiment set up two groups for comparison: one group of dishes was washed and placed directly in the cupboard for storage; the other group of dishes was washed and placed on a shelf standing upright and placed in a ventilated place. After 3 days, the bacterial order of the tableware placed standing up is 8000cfu/set (cfu refers to the total number of bacterial communities in a unit volume), which meets the relevant health standards in my country; and the number of bacteria stacked on top is 560,000cfu/set, which is for standing standing 70 times.
Some dishwashers have a disinfection function, which can reduce the residual bacteria in the tableware to a certain extent. However, it should be noted that many families leave the tableware in the dishwasher after using it, and use it next time. In the experiment, the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute also tested the tableware that was taken out in time from the dishwasher and stored in the machine for 3 days and 7 days. It was found that only the tableware that was taken out in time had the bacteria count in compliance with the relevant national hygiene standards, while the bacteria count of the latter two exceeded the standard by a hundred and a thousand times respectively. This is because the interior of the dishwasher is relatively closed and humid, which is very suitable for bacterial growth. If the tableware is placed in it for a long time, it will cause secondary pollution.
The correct cleaning procedure for tableware is to wash the tableware with detergent, rinse the remaining detergent with running water, and then stand on the hollow shelf, drain the tableware, and put the tableware in the cabinet after there are no water droplets. Similarly, other tableware, such as spatulas, chopsticks, cutting boards, etc., are also recommended to stand upright on drainable racks. There are also people who use rags to dry the tableware after washing. The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a household survey in 2017 and found that the total number of bacteria per gram of table cloth is as high as hundreds of thousands, including E. coli, Salmonella, etc. Pathogenic bacteria may cause diarrhea or digestive system diseases. Therefore, try not to wipe the dishes with a rag. If wiping, the cloth should be boiled in boiling water and disinfected at high temperature before use.
