Kitchen Sanitation Issues

Cutting board recommendations

• Keep all cutting boards clean, wash with hot soapy water and a brush after each use; then rinse and air dry or surface dry with paper towels. Non-porous acrylic, plastic, glass, and solid wood boards can be washed in an automatic dishwasher.
• Both wood and plastic cutting boards can be sanitized, after thoroughly cleaned, with a chlorine bleach solution (one teaspoon of liquid bleach in one quart of water). Flood the surface with the bleach solution and let it stand for several minutes. Then rinse and air-dry or dry surface with paper towels.
• Discard excessively worn cutting boards.
• Consider using a separate cutting board for raw foods that require cooking; for example one for meat, poultry, or fish and cooked or another for ready-to-eat foods such as salad vegetables, breads etc.

Kitchen dish cloths and sponges

Kitchen dish cloths and sponges are potential sources of bacteria known to cause food-borne illness. Current recommendations for dish cloths and sponges are to change sponges every two weeks and launder dish cloths every day or every other day. Paper towels may also be used to wipe surfaces. To reduce the amount of germs on dish cloths and/or sponges:

• Launder or wash sponges in a dish washer every day or every other day.
• Use sponges containing a disinfectant or disinfect dish cloths and sponges, by soaking them in a dilute bleach solution (1 teaspoon of household bleach in 1 quart of water).
• Microwave wet or damp dish cloths for three minutes and damp sponges for one minute in the microwave on high. Do not microwave dry dish cloths as they may catch fire.
• Use 1 time disinfecting wipes on counters and kitchen surfaces. Discard after using. 

For other questions on Food Safety and Sanitation, call your local county Cooperative Extension office.