BACTERIA ON DISHES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 6 (Supplement)

BACTERIA ON DISHES.

CAUSE OF DISEASE. CHLORINE FOR DISHWATER. That improperly washed dishes and silverware may cause the spread of common colds and other respiratory diseases was emphasised by Dr. .Tames G. Cumming, chief of the Bureau of Preventable' Diseases of the Health Department of the District of Columbia, following a series of experiments in forty-six restaurants in Washington, where his examiners found that the usual methods of dishwashing left from j 50,000 to 100,000 bacteria on the average spoon. Instead of these methods he recommended the subjection of the uten- ? sils to an eight-minute rinse in a r clijprine solution, which he found uniJ formly effective. ■ The principle of this method of dis--1 infection is simple. Chlorine in solution forms hypoclilorous acid. This acid easily breaks down into hydrochloric acid and oxygen, thus becoming an oxidising agent. The oxidising process kills the bacteria. Dr. Cumming recommends a threecompartinent method for dishwashing First, the utensils are rinsed thoroughly to remove all residual food particles.

Then they are carried to a second com partment which contains the chlorint solution. Finally, they are rinsed ir clear water to remove the odour and taste of chlorine. Transmission of such diseases as colds, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis! scarlet fever and trench inouth, through the use of infected eating implements, was first disclosed in 1917 as a result of observations at Camp Tanforan California. In a study of 66,070 troops it was found that the influenza rate was 252 per 1000 among troops which washed their mess kits individually in hot water, while the rate dropped to 51.1 per 1000 in units which provided collcctive sanitary washings. Since that time health authorities •have prescribed various sanitary measures for restaurants, but these have I not always proved effective. The New York sanitary code provides that cooking and eating utensils shall bo "properly" cleansed "in a solution of soda or suitable cleansing powder in hot water, followed by a thorough rinsing or spraying or immersion in clean boiling water (212 F.) for a period of one minute, or in hot water at a temperature of not less than 180 F. for two minutes or by sterilisation with live steam."

That this prescription does not always work was shown in a recent test by Columbia University of fifty-four samples of dishwater taken from ten of the city's restaurants. Dr. John Oberwager, New York Sanitary Superintendent, has expressed himself in favour of the use of chlorine in dishwashing. However, James J. Cooney, Chief Inspector of Foods, points out that such a plan cannot be expected to produce 100 per cent results because it would be impossible to maintain a 100 per cent check of restaurants to make sure that the solution was used in sufficient strength to effect dis° infection.