How to wash hands: there is an infections danger and we can put our health at risk

According to a study by the American Department of Agriculture we do not know how to properly wash our hands. Through a small experiment, they have shown that almost all of the examinees have made some kind of mistake. Awareness of proper hygiene in the kitchen is essential to avoid dangerous and annoying infectious diseases.

97% of us do not know how to properly wash our hands, often endangering the health of our family. A study by the US Department of Agriculture shows that we do not properly wash our hands, while we cook a meal or consume it, putting ourselves at risk of dangerous food infections. Particularly insidious is the management of raw meat, especially poultry, that is a bacteria and virus carrier, and if you do not use the right precautions they can spread and contaminate the whole kitchen.

The study. The researchers, to prove their thesis, have voluntarily contaminated meat with a harmless virus. Then they asked 400 people to cook a hamburger with salad, showing half of these a video on the normal hygiene rules in the kitchen.

Washing hands: The study shows that 97% of the participants make some kind of mistake by washing their hands. The most frequent errors are not washing your hands for 20 seconds and using a dirty cloth to dry the hands.

Temperature. Only 34% of those examined used the thermometer to check the cooking temperature and, of these, only the half reached the safe temperature.

Contamination. Of the sample group, 48% contaminate spice containers while preparing hamburgers, 11% spread bacteria on the handles of the refrigerator and 5% contaminate salads due to cross-contamination.

INDICATIONS

Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling raw meat, poultry or eggs. Make sure to wash for 20 seconds and always dry your hands on a clean towel. Cooking meat is also an important step to avoid contamination of pathogens. Since heat is the best sterilizer in circulation, it is always better to cook meat at the right temperature.

Beef, pork, lamb and veal (steaks, roasts and chops): 62 degrees C
Minced meat (hamburger): 71 degrees C
Poultry (whole or ground): 75 degrees C