Here Are the Dirtiest Items on Restaurant Tables
Next time you're reaching for the pepper on a restaurant table, you may want to use a napkin. It turns out that pepper shakers are one of the dirtiest items in a restaurant, harboring one of the highest bacteria counts.
According to an ABC News study, pepper shakers have an average bacteria count of 11,600, which was second highest next to restaurant menus. Get ready to be grossed out...menus at the restaurants tested carried an average bacteria count of 185,000. The study consisted of swabbing items on the tables of 12 restaurants in three states: New York, Ohio, and Arizona.
Next, the swabs were examined for "total bacteria counts and coliforms-a broad class of bacteria found in our environment." Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, told TODAY that E.coli "loves to grow" on top of the pepper containers in a restaurant. "It's a plant-based product. Maybe that has something to do with it," he says.
TODAY suggests, "Skip the pepper or bring individual packets with you." Definitely not a bad idea. Jonas Sickler, director of operations at ConsumerSafety.org, told Reader's Digest, "Most salt and pepper shakers are only wiped down if they appear dirty, and even then, only with a damp cloth that bussers keep in their pockets." Are you cringing, or is it just me?
"While some restaurants collect, refill, and wipe down shakers, they are rarely properly emptied and sanitized," Sickler says. He also points out the kid factor-parents often let their kiddos play with the salt and pepper shakers during meals, which means they end up covered in drool (or whatever else is on the toddler's fingers).
Whether you're not you typically use the salt and pepper at dinner, you're still subjected to the germs. "Even people who don't intend to season their food will move them around on the table-definitely something to consider as enter flu season," Sickler says.
To avoid the germs, Sickler suggests asking the chef to "spice the dish up in the kitchen if you like it hot." Looks like I'll be carrying Clorox in my purse from here on out!
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