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MONDAY, June 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Family composition and hygiene practices are associated with the microbial load of kitchen towels, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, held from June 7 to 11 in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Susheela D. Biranjia-Hurdoyal, Ph.D., from the University of Mauritius in Moka, and colleagues collected 100 kitchen towels after one month of use, and then cultured and identified bacteria found on the towels.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 49 percent of the kitchen towels had bacterial growth, which increased significantly by size of family, extended family, and presence of children. Compared with single-use towels, multipurpose towels had higher colony-forming units (CFUs); humid towels had higher CFUs than dry ones. The mean CFU was 2.76 \u00d7 105<\/sup>, and was significantly higher from cotton versus nylon and mixture of both towels (4.98 versus 1.64 and 1.89 \u00d7 105<\/sup>, respectively). The rate of isolation of Staphylococcus aureus<\/i> was higher for families of lower socioeconomic status and those with children. Twice the risk of coliforms was observed for humid versus dry towels. Diet was also an important factor; families on non-vegetarian diets had higher prevalence of coliform and S. aureus<\/i> detection.<\/p>\n “Diet, type of use, and moist kitchen towels could be very important in promoting the growth of potential pathogens responsible for food poisoning,” Biranjia-Hurdoyal said in a statement.<\/p>\n Press Release<\/a><\/p>\n