DANGER LURKS IN KITCHEN; STUDY SAYS GERMS POSE THREAT OF FOOD POISONING.

Byline: Usha Lee McFarling Knight Ridder Newspapers

Your mother-in-law is right. Your kitchen is a mess. In fact, it could kill you.

A disconcerting new study of household germs shows that kitchen sinks, cutting boards and refrigerator handles are teeming with germs like E. coli and salmonella. Because we're not cleaning properly, kitchen hot spots are crawling with more germs, including fecal bacteria, than toilet seats or bathroom floors.

``You'd be better off eating a carrot stick that fell in your toilet than one that fell in your sink,'' said Charles Gerba, a University of Arizona microbiologist who measured germ levels in 15 well-tended homes. ``Your dog is right.''

In this age of killer germs and a food supply more likely to be contaminated, news of our slovenly ways isn't only unappetizing, it's dangerous.

Food poisoning kills 9,000 Americans a year and sends 30 million to 80 million more rushing to doctors and bathrooms with fevers and stomach cramps. Some cases lead to miscarriage, arthritis and kidney failure. And 80 percent of food poisoning doesn't happen in restaurants, experts say. It's homemade.

Gerba, 52, a waterborne-disease expert who has spent much of his career studying the relationship between bathrooms and illness, says kitchens are even more dangerous. He thinks that's because we expect germs in the bathroom and routinely disinfect them. Kitchens don't get the same treatment. They should.

Today's food is more likely to carry an array of dangerous bacteria from the global marketplace into our kitchens aboard raw meat, vegetables and poultry.

``This is not your mother's kitchen anymore,'' said Alan Levy, who directs a branch of the Food and Drug Administration that conducts consumer studies on food safety. ``The world's changing, but our kitchen practices are not.''

Twenty-five percent don't wash cutting boards after chopping raw meat or chicken, the FDA survey shows. And 25 percent don't wash their hands before cooking - another way germs hitch rides into kitchens.

When Levy says wash hands, he means scrub. With soap. For 20 seconds. ``People don't really wash their hands. They wet their fingertips,'' he said. ``Then they dry their hands on the same towel they used to wipe up meat.''

Even well-intentioned efforts to clean can be disastrous. Sponges, because they mop up food waste and stay eternally moist, harbor billions of bacteria. Neatly folded dishrags stay moist and germ-friendly. And those dirty sponges and dishrags then spread germs over counters, plates and hands.

Many germs won't die unless they're hit with water hot enough to scald your hands, like that in a dishwasher, or with a cleanser labeled as a disinfectant, a term registered with the Environmental Protection Agency. Soap and warm water aren't enough. Use the disinfecting cleanser daily or fill your sink with hot water and bleach to disinfect it and your sponges. Your cutting board needs to be cleaned with a disinfectant after each use.

A flood of new ``antibacterial'' products designed to cash in on germphobia is mostly a waste of money, experts say. Basic hygiene is cheaper and more effective. While people are afraid of E. coli and the Ebola virus, in this antibiotic age they no longer fear more common bacteria that once felled millions.

``People take germs for granted,'' said Dr. Mitchell Cohen, director of the division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that keeps watch over diseases caused by bacteria and fungus.

There's no need to obsess. Most germs are harmless. But some are not.

``You're playing germ Russian roulette,'' said Gerba. ``Basically, you want the fewest germs in the revolver.''