How many bacteria are there in a chopstick

In China, chopsticks are the tableware people use for eating every day. Chinese people are world-famous for being good at using chopsticks to eat. The chopsticks we usually use at home are basically plastic chopsticks or bamboo chopsticks. They are washed with detergent after eating and then reused. In fact, there are a lot of bacteria on chopsticks. If they are not cleaned thoroughly, they will affect human health. So, how many bacteria are there on a pair of chopsticks?

According to the investigation, bacterial tests on unsterilized bowls and chopsticks found more than 300 bacteria on each bowl and more than 170 bacteria on a pair of chopsticks; the bacteria on public bowls, chopsticks, spoons and other tableware are 10-20 times that of household tableware, that is, the number of contaminated bacteria is as high as 6,000.

The biggest problem with most sterilized tableware at present is excessive levels of E. coli. There are four major pathogens on the surface of tableware, namely Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, hepatitis virus, and polio virus. People may suffer from diarrhea at the mildest and food poisoning at the worst after eating them. ”

Dirty or inadequately disinfected tableware may lead to the spread of a variety of diseases such as acute hepatitis A, acute bacterial dysentery, amoebic dysentery, diarrhea, etc., causing great harm to the human body.

The two types of bacteria are most likely to grow on chopsticks - Helicobacter pylori and aflatoxin.

Helicobacter pylori is mainly transmitted through saliva and droplets from mouth to mouth. In China, where people basically do not separate meals, chopsticks are one of the best carriers. According to the World Health Organization, about half of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori, but only about 1% of the infected population eventually develops gastric cancer.

Aflatoxin is a very powerful substance and is known as one of the most powerful carcinogens known to date. Aspergillus flavus is often found in moldy grains and their products, so chopsticks can easily breed this fungus in a humid environment. There have been many incidents of acute aflatoxin poisoning around the world, including moldy cassava cake poisoning in Africa and moldy corn poisoning in India. In 2004-2005, Kenya experienced the largest outbreak of acute aflatoxin poisoning in history, poisoning more than 1,000 people and killing 125 people.

Therefore, everyone must wash chopsticks carefully after meals. If conditions permit, it is best to use a high-temperature disinfection cabinet to wash them.