Here Are The Dirtiest Items Found In A Typical Restaurant…
SINK FAUCET
Obviously the bathroom sink faucets contain a whole slew of bacteria. This and the soap dispenser are the first places touched after someone leaves the stall. Because soap dispensers are associated with absolute clean, they hardly get sanitized. If you doubt the durability of the soap to rid the germs from your hands, use a piece of toilet paper or paper towel to press on the soap dispenser or turn on and off the faucet.
SHARED UTENSILS
Especially true of buffets, salad bar tongs, spoons and other shared utensils are packed with germs. They are touched constantly all day long and not everyone touching them has good hygiene habits. You can keep a napkin in the palm of your hand and use that as a buffer between your hand and the utensil or wash your hands with soap and water before you eat. You can always use hand sanitizer at the table as well.
DOORKNOBS
This pertains to every doorknob in public. They are pretty filthy because of constant use and people who may not have cleaned their hands before or after using the bathroom. Use a bit of toilet paper or paper towel to open doors. The worst culprit is the main entry door for the restaurant. In this case, you may want to wash your hands in the restroom.
MENUS
Menus are the worst when it comes to germs – an average of 185,000 bacteria per – because of the constant use by the general public. You can catch everything from staph infections to strep throat from what is lingering on those menus. Laminated menus can be cleaned but paper menus are nearly impossible to rid of germs. Your best bet is to immediately wash your hands after use or put napkins between your hands and the menu.
SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS
Any condiments on the table are a playground for germs. Ketchup, hot sauce, butter and creamer packets – all full of yuck from patrons and sick kids grabbing at them. Use a napkin to handle condiments because constantly getting up to wash your hands will probably become irritating.
Pepper shakers were actually found to be the second dirtiest thing in most restaurants so either bring your own from home, wrap it or learn to live without.
TABLES
The surface of your average restaurant table is TEEMING with creepy crawlies. What has always baffled me is that many restaurants wipe down these surfaces with dirty rags. Rags that have been used all day or just continuously doused in dirty, stagnant water. This only causes MORE germs to spread to the surface. Request a clean rag be used to wipe the surface down or brink a portable pack of cleaning wipes. It’s better than catching a sickness you can’t seem to shake.
SEATS
The booths and chairs you plunk yourself down into to enjoy that great meal are collections of disgusting strains of bacteria. A study from ABC News discovered that 70% of restaurant chairs are saturated in more than 17 strains of germs, including the hideous E. coli. There really isn’t anything you can do except to bring your own cleansing wipes. If you head home, you may want to change clothes so you don’t distribute these strains around your home. Put your street clothes into a hamper or the washing machine and SERIOUSLY never get into your bed with them on.
ICE
There is usually a tub of ice in the kitchen area used mainly for drinks. This can be a hotbed of germs. Ice machines tend to have more bacteria forming than toilet water. You can’t do much about this except request no ice in your drinks.
BATHROOM FLOORS
This should be fairly obvious. Not only are those floors full of mystery crud from the outdoors, they can play host to feces, urine and other bodily fluids. An average public restroom has about 2 million bacteria per square inch. NEVER sit on the floor or, why people do this I haven’t a clue, roll around down there.
To avoid spreading those germs, make it a point not to walk around your home in shoes you wear outdoors. Keep a small area near the door for guests to put their shoes and you can even buy some inexpensive slippers for visitors to use.
And the NUMBER ONE most contaminated, polluted, gross thing in a restaurant…
TOILETS
Yep. We all saw this coming. Toilets breed germs like rabbits. Even though they are cleaned and maintained daily, they still support hundreds of bacteria on the seat and millions inside of the bowl. Use a paper toilet seat protector is they have any. If not, simply take some long strips of toilet paper and cover the exposed areas of the seat. Use a piece to flush and be sure to use one on those handles.
It may seem extreme but taking a few seconds to utilize toilet paper as a barrier or bringing along wipes but they might just save you from getting really, really sick. Be reasonable about what you can and can’t handle and, most importantly, don’t drag those germs around your home. Institute habits of keeping your living space clean from outside bacteria.
