Dirtiest Items In The Restaurant

Let me help you — the toilet is out of the question here, as many of you probably thought wrongfully. At least not in the United States, where the following research was conducted. In the most venues to eat or drink, rest-rooms are the places which the staff cleans most frequently, that is why they are in the middle of the chart, passed by many others, seemingly harmless items.

A journalist from ABC News Consumer conducted a research in 10 venues in three American states, taking samples from different surfaces. The results speak for themselves.

Less Harmful Restaurant Items

From 10th to 7th place are the salad bar spoons, ketchup bottles, toilet seat and the rest-room door casing. The situation is not so bad here, the analysis shows. The problems begin with the glasses, placed on sixth place, whose edges are often contaminated by waiters or bartenders touching them. Sample tests have established the presence of numerous bacteria, amongst them tuberculosis.

New Technology Picks Up Bacteria

Even dirtier are the tablets, which many venues implement nowadays in order to increase their customers’ comfort and convenience. It would all be fine, if parents weren’t that careless to put them at the same place where they have just finished replacing their baby’s diaper. This is why they are in the middle of the dirtiest items’ list.

Irreplaceable But Dirty As Hell

One position higher in the chart are salt and pepper shakers — attributes, which are used too often, but staff washes them far too seldom, the researchers conclude.

The Dirty Cocktail Companion

It’s unbelievable, but the third place is taken by the lemon slice. The research has established, that it contains faecal remains — probably because part of the kitchen workers do not wash their hands often and do not use the obligatory gloves when preparing cocktails.

Menu, Please…Or Not?

The menu is amongst the items that crawl with bacteria, as the laboratory results show. It is not surprising, however, because it passes through thousands of hands and costs a lot, that is why people replace it very rarely.

Sit back, Stand Up Again, Walk Away

The dirtiest of them all are the chair seats. There are bacteria on 70% of them, according to the research. The laboratory analysis has located the presence of 17 different bacteria, each one of them able to make a person sick.

To Sum Up

The research includes public areas of the venues only. It is not yet clear what would the result be if they have checked the venues’ kitchens. The authors have missed another extremely huge pollutant, from which even the perfect hygiene restaurants are not insured against — money bills. According to a 2002 research, 94% of the bills contain bacteria, most of which are harmless. The remaining 6%, though, are not — some of them cause infections, including pneumonia.

This concludes the list of the dirtiest items at the commercial restaurants. If you would like to know more surprisingly dirty places at your home, check them out in the following article.