Your kitchen may be the heart of your home, but it can also be ground zero for the spread of serious illness. That’s because according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 48 million people get sick every year from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized from those illnesses, and 3,000 die from them.
Bacteria can spread countless ways in your kitchen, and doctors say it may pose a danger when you least expect it—for example, after you’ve washed your dishes. They warn that putting dishes away when they’re still wet is a common mistake that can lead to food-borne illness. Luckily, there’s a safe and simple solution to this problem. Read on to find out how to keep bacteria at bay when doing your dishes, and why it’s so important that you do.