Bacterial levels and diversity in kitchen sponges and dishwashing brushes used by consumers.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

The purpose of the work was to investigate bacterial levels and diversity as well as survival of Salmonella in used dish washing sponges and brushes and identify consumer practices that can potentially explain bacterial status of these items.

Methods and results

Used washing up utensils were collected from consumers. The bacterial numbers (TVC) were very variable with an extremely high median level (10.3 log cfu/item) in Portuguese sponges and lower levels in Norwegian items (7.3 and 7.0 cfu/item for sponges and brushes). No self-reported practices or household composition could explain differences found in TVC levels among the collected sponges. Lower mean TVC levels were found in unworn brushes and brushes regularly cleaned with soap, but the differences were modest (

SUBMITTER: Moretro T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9542536 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature