Disposable dishcloths recommended

The Health Protection Agency has advocated the use of disposable 'dishcloths' in the food preparation sector following a study of catering kitchens.

HPA researchers who visited 120 restaurant and fast-food kitchens in the north-east of England discovered that 56% of the cloths tested were unacceptable - and that some carried faecal bacteria and listeria.

"Food and catering staff are becoming increasingly conscious of the need for hand hygiene, but many seem unaware of the problems that a textile dishcloth can pose," says Mark Riley, product and market manager of Tork tissue manufacturer SCA Tissue Europe.

"By replacing dishcloths with a disposable alternative, catering chiefs can potentially make the food preparation environment much safer.

"Systems such as our Tork Premium Specialist Colour- Coded Cloths are suitable for the food environment since they are strong and disposable.They are also colour-coded enabling apportion to different cleaning tasks."