"Washing is Useless, Bacteria Mass"... That Worrying 'Thing' When Wiping the Table

[Financial News]  It has been confirmed that bacteria remain even after washing dishcloths with water or detergent. Especially, if dishcloths are left unattended for a long time, bacteria can increase up to 10,000 times, indicating the need for management.

Yuhan-Kimberly announced the results of an industry-academia cooperation conducted with Inha University on the theme of 'Study on Hygiene Evaluation and Improvement Measures for Reusable Dishcloths' on the 25th.

This study selected cotton dishcloths commonly used in restaurants or homes and nonwoven dishcloths in a sterile state immediately after opening as experimental groups. The study proceeded by assuming contamination situations of reusable dishcloths, varying methods such as microbial injection, washing with water, detergents, or boiling, and checking bacterial growth according to indoor drying time.


In the experiment, even washing with kitchen detergents did not completely remove bacteria from the dishcloths, and bacteria were observed even after 12 hours of drying, indicating potential for growth. Particularly, when dishcloths were left indoors in a dry state for several days, residual microorganisms were found to multiply over 10,000 times after a certain period.

On the other hand, when boiled in 100℃ water for more than 5 minutes, no bacteria were found.

Professor Baek Young-bin of the Department of Biotechnology at Inha University said, "In food service sites, microorganisms can proliferate more than the experimental results," adding, "If thorough boiling disinfection and clean drying management are insufficient, the risk of contamination increases, so using disposable dishcloths in a sterile state and disposing of them after use can minimize the risk."




y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter