Dirty Dining: Wendy Ryan's kitchen items do not pass a mock health inspection

Sink drain is most contaminated area of kitchen

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Posted: 03/21/2011

By: Wendy Ryan

TAMPA, Fla - Gretchen Barnes is a busy new mom with twin 7-month-old boys, Beckett and Eli.

"Do you find that you have less time to clean the kitchen than you used to?" asked ABC Action News anchor Wendy Ryan.

"Absolutely, less time to do everything," Gretchen admits.

So Gretchen was a trooper to allow former health inspector Roy Costa to come to her house and do a mock inspection on her kitchen.

Right away, Roy found a critical violation: Eggs over five months old in her refrigerator. The package had a printed expiration date of September 17, 2010. "You don't eat a lot of eggs, do you?!" Roy joked with her.

Next on Roy's inspection? "Do you have a thermometer in your refrigerator?" Roy asked. "That's a requirement."

Roy says she should have a hanging thermometer in the refrigerator at all times, so you know the food is kept at the proper temperature. And you must calibrate that thermometer in ice water so it stays accurate at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roy went on to check the cleanliness of Gretchen's kitchen counter, putting it through a bacterial test. A safe, clean range would score from 10 to 30.

"Well, you're a little high," said Roy. The meter read a score of 198.

Roy said one of the most contaminated areas of the kitchen is the sink drain, because of the disposal and waste spewing up from the bottom.

"If you're running a large volume of water there, and your water is splashing up, you have the possibility that the micro-organisms that are down in that drain are going to get around the other surfaces of the sink," Roy said.

So Roy tested Gretchen's sink drain, and the bacterial reading was at 2,716. "Oh God!" Gretchen exclaimed, as she looked at the high number.

Roy says it's a good idea to disinfect the sink drain once a week. So how do you do that?

"Make about a 200-part-per-million dilution of this bleach. Because we know if you have the proper water to bleach, the activity of the chlorine that's in there is going to be a lot more effective," Roy explained.

So in a bucket of room temperature water, less than a capful of clorox would be enough to create the right level of disinfectant.

And Roy says sanitizing the baby's toys with that same diluted solution is a good idea.

But first he tested the dirtiness of one of those toys, Sophie the giraffe. And it had a bacterial reading of 3,507. "Oh no, Sophie's contaminated!" Roy said.

Just then, Gretchen's son, Eli started crying. "Don't worry, we'll get her healthy. We'll clean her up," Gretchen said to Eli.

Roy recommends cleaning each toy with soap and water first before sterilizing it in the solution for at least 5 minutes.

Then, it was time to go to Wendy Ryan's house.

When former health inspector Roy Costa got to Wendy Ryan's house, he took points off right away because she had no working thermometer.

"The fact that I don't know where it is, is probably not a good sign," said Wendy, as she frantically looked in each kitchen drawer.

"Yeah, that would lose you about 10 points on the inspection," Roy said.

Roy checked the temperature of Wendy's refrigerator by using infra-red radiation from a distance. "Well, Wendy you're in the danger zone," Roy said. "You're at 44.8 and it should be 41 degrees or below," Roy said.

He then looked through the refrigerator and discovered cross-contamination issues. "You've got your ground beef stored in the same drawer next to cooked food. This is a critical violation," Roy said.

"I've told my husband this. I know you're not supposed to store raw food next to ready to eat foods," Wendy said.

"We don't want excuses, Wendy," Roy said with a smile.

Roy says the outside packaging of raw meat can be contaminated with I-coli or salmonella, so store raw product by itself in a separate drawer.

Roy went on to test several of Wendy's kitchen items including the sink drain. Remember, a safe, clean level should score between 10 and 30. The reading for the sink drain came back somewhat higher than that.

"7,102. That's getting up there Wendy," Roy said. Seven thousand one hundred two.

"These are little things in your environment that can cause cross-contamination," Roy added.

To keep that bacteria level down, Roy recommends not washing any raw fish, raw chicken, or raw beef in the sink. "You don't need to. We don't want the bacteria released in this environment where they can colonize, grow, and then re-contaminate other things," Roy said.

The kitchen cutting board also didn't pass the test. The meter read 8,474. "It's 8,400 and it's higher than the sink was," Wendy said in a panic.

Even the dish sponge attached to the soap dispenser wasn't clean. It read a score of 2,332.

Roy says sponges can harbor bacteria for a long time, so you should put it in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds every day or put it in the dishwasher.

After it was over, Wendy said she certainly learned a lot and so did Gretchen.

"We'll probably go out and get a thermometer for our refrigerator and definitely be putting the toys through a little bit more of a cleaning and sterilizing cycle," said Gretchen.

MORE: Former health inspector Roy Costa has a quick list of recommendations to keep your kitchen clean .