By Josette Keelor — Daily Staff Writer

Most diners expect commercial kitchens and restaurants to be clean, knowing all the certifications and training that food handlers obtain, but give little thought to their own homes.

A recent study, sponsored by the home cleaning giant Lysol, claims many residential kitchens are dirtier and more contaminated with bacteria than bathrooms. There are ways to maintain high standards at home, however, with a few tips from the professionals.

Banish bacteria

"The most important thing, I think, is to prevent cross contamination," says Brittany Wilkins, a family and consumer sciences Virginia Cooperative Extension agent, who covers Warren and Page counties.

First make sure that your food surface is clean. Wilkins, whose concentration is in food, nutrition and health, suggests using sanitizing wipes like Clorox or Lysol cleaning wipes, but make sure to use a different wipe for each item or surface, to avoid spreading bacteria from one place to another.

Water and bleach make another effective cleaning solution as long as the ratios are correct, she says. She says to follow instructions on the bottle of bleach. It takes only a small amount of bleach in a large amount of water. If the smell of the bleach is overpowering, she says, it should be diluted.

Sponges and dishcloths need to be cleaned regularly to be effective at destroying germs and bacteria on kitchen surfaces.

"They trap germs a lot," Wilkins says. "I just recommend you throw away your sponge [every two weeks]," she says. She recommends cleaning sponges and dishcloths after every use.

Wilkins suggests using separate cutting boards for foods that could contaminate each other, such as one cutting board for meat, another for vegetables. To keep each cutting board exclusive to one type of food, Wilkins suggests buying color-coded boards.

Other options are available, though, for people who do not have a lot of storage or counter space in their kitchen for multiple cutting boards.

Nibblins, a kitchen supply store in the Apple Blossom Mall in Winchester, sells cutting boards that have an antibacterial surface to help prevent absorption of bacteria. The boards also feature a red dot on one side and a green dot on the other, so you can always know which side to use for slicing meat and vegetables.

"Do the veggies first [before slicing meat]," says Nathan Hale, manager of the Creekside Daily Grind in Kernstown.

Hale, who is certified in food handling through a ServSafe course offered at Lord Fairfax Community College, says at home he and his wife practice many of rules that he learned in the class. His wife, he says, has a cutting board she uses just for chicken, because she is worried about salmonella poisoning.

"I was unbearable the first week after the ServSafe class," Hale says. Though he says he still drives his wife crazy sometimes by his precision in the kitchen, he adds that she has become used to his attention of detail.

Keeping foods separate from each other until they are cooked to the proper temperature is extremely important in preventing the outbreak of food-borne illnesses.

Besides making sure that foods do not get contaminated by other foods or foreign objects, Hale says he is particular about how well food is cooked.

"I'm really hard-core about making sure meats are fully cooked," says Hale, who will not eat meat if it is still pink.

Since cooking times can vary, depending on the type or amount of food, Wilkins recommends judging whether food is ready by using a meat thermometer, not just by sight.

Fish and steak should be cooked to at least 145 degrees, ground beef to 155 degrees and chicken to 165 degrees. Leftovers or different foods that have been combined and will be reheated on the stove or in the microwave should also be heated to 165 degrees.

"It's also important not to leave your food on the counter to thaw," says Wilkins.

The safest way to defrost meat is in the refrigerator, covered on a plate to prevent contamination of other food, says Wilkins. Meat also can be defrosted in the package in a sink in cold to lukewarm water that is changed at least every 25 to 30 minutes to keep the water temperature the consistent. If a microwave is used, food must be cooked immediately after defrosting, she says.

Safe storage

Storing food properly is also important to making sure it remains safe. The Web site for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, www.cfsan.fda.gov, recommends setting the refrigerator to 40 degrees or lower and the freezer to zero degrees. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers within two hours of cooking, the Web site says. Large amounts of leftovers should be divided into shallow containers for faster cooling in the refrigerator, the site says. Marinated foods should be stored in safe locations in the refrigerator.

Meat should be stored on the bottom shelf so it will not leak into other foods. Dairy products should not be stored on the door of the refrigerator, because the door does not stay as cool. Perishable foods in the refrigerator need to stay at 40 degrees or lower because disease-causing bacteria begin growing rapidly between 41 and 140 degrees, according to the Web site.

Be attentive to the expiration dates on foods. Meat and dairy products should be used or frozen by the expiration date and tossed out if not used completely within seven days of being thawed or cooked. Though it might be difficult to throw out food that has not been used, it's safer than eating something that has gone bad.

Clean hands

Wilkins says that the greatest cause of bacteria in the kitchen is from family members tracking bacteria in from other rooms. Washing your hands correctly and often can prevent any number of problems in the kitchen, she says.

Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water at least 100 degrees, says Wilkins. Make sure to wash under fingernails, between fingers and up to the wrists, which are the most commonly missed places, she says.

Counting or singing a song such as "Row, row, row your boat" twice through can help children and adults know they're washing their hands long enough. Also, it is important to avoid touching contaminated objects between washing hands and preparing food.

Something many people do after washing their hands is touch the faucet handle or doorknob to the bathroom, overlooking the possibility that those surfaces are crawling with germs. By turning off the faucet with your hand, after washing it, you will contaminate it all over again. Wilkins suggests using a paper towel to turn off the faucet and to open the door of public rest rooms or using your sleeve at home. Wilkins says that some of the most contaminated surfaces are faucet handles, doorknobs and computer keyboards.

Many people will use hand sanitizers instead of washing their hands if they do not have access to a sink. Hale admits to using hand sanitizers, though he cautions that many products are not useful at killing bacteria, such as the fast-drying sanitizers that come in a bottle. The sanitizer has to have moist contact with your skin for 30 seconds to be effective, he says, so products like hand wipes will be more useful.

Hand sanitizers are not a reliable substitute for hand washing, though, says Wilkins.

"It does not do the same thing," she says, adding soap and hot water are better bets than waterless hand sanitizers.

ServSafe classes are available for anyone interested through the Virginia Cooperative Extension office at 635-4549 and through Lord Fairfax Community College at www.lfccworkforce.com by choosing food safety in the drop down menu. For more information about food safety, visit the Web at www.homefoodsafety.org or www.foodsafety.gov.

*Contact Josette Keelor at jkeelor@nvdaily.com.