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Researchers at Ohio State University said washing dishes doesn't have to be a hot and steamy undertaking.
A new release on dish washing says cooler water can do the same cleaning job -- provided you use a bit of dish sanitizer containing ammonia.
The OSU scientists washed dinnerware that had been covered with cheese, eggs, milk and jelly and also contained E. coli and other bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses.
They said that hot, soapy water and a dish sanitizer killed off nearly all the germs, but so did the same technique substituting water at room temperature.
The federal government has recommended that restaurants use water heated to at least 110 degrees when dishes are washed by hand.
Researchers Jaesun Lee and Melvin Pascall found, however, that one substance is hard to get off: lipstick.
"After washing, there were lipstick stains still left on a few glasses, but it was the least hospitable substance for bacteria," Pascall said. "It seems to have antimicrobial properties, which was a big surprise to us."
Lee and Pascall discovered that washing dishes in hot dishwater, followed by soaking in extra sanitizers, eliminated almost all of the bacteria on them, even when coated with dried-on cheese. But dishes washed in soapy room-temperature water, rinsed, and then weakly sanitized with ammonium-based chemicals also achieved FDA-acceptable results.
http://www.wftv.com/family/11136458/detail.html
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