CHARACTERIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS AND INDICATOR ORGANISMS IN HOUSEHOLD KITCHENS WITH AND WITHOUT THE USE OF A DISINFECTANT CLEANER

This two year study evaluated the prevalence of indicator bacteria and specific pathogens in 10 'normal' kitchens in the United States. In P hase I, none of the kitchens was cleaned with an antimicrobial cleaner or disinfectant. Eight locations within the kitchens were monitored f or: total heterotrophs, staphylococci, Pseudomonas, total coliforms an d faecal coliforms. Almost all locations at all households exhibited c ontamination, with the sink and sponge samples exhibiting large bacter ial concentrations. The faecal coliform concentrations in sink and spo nge samples were very high, with 63 and 67% of all samples being posit ive, respectively. Escherichia coli was detected in 16.7% of all sink surfaces and 33.3% of all sponges. Salmonella was detected once and Ca mpylobacter, on two occasions. In a second phase, households were prov ided with an antimicrobial disinfectant cleaner which families were en couraged to use but not forced to do so; in some cases, the product wa s used infrequently or not at all. This regimen did not demonstrate an y consistent reduction in the incidence of bacterial contamination. By contrast, in the final phase of the study where disinfectant use was targeted for surfaces soon after contamination with foods or hands, th e incidence of contamination decreased dramatically. These data show t hat normal kitchens can easily be contaminated with a variety of bacte rial contaminants including faecal coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter. Irregular use, or not using antimicrobial agents, is un likely to reduce the risk of these infectious agents. By contrast, tar geted use is likely to reduce the incidence of bacterial contaminants.