Kitchens are, without any doubt, the main source of foodborne infection in the domestic environments.
Haysom and Sharp [24] investigated changes in levels of bacterial contamination in five key sites in ten
domestic kitchens during a period of 24 hours. They observed that contamination levels varied during the
day, peaking after meal preparation and generally falling overnight. There was also indirect evidence of
cross-contamination, particularly from hands to other surfaces, since sites such as the refrigerator handle,
kettle handle and taps, which generally only come into contact with hands, showed highest levels of
contamination. The same authors [25] proved that some sites in kitchen as the chopping board, surfaces
and handles of taps, kettle and refrigerator can become contaminated during the preparation of a meal
from raw chicken. Bacteria can also be readily transferred to chopping boards during preparation of meat
and then contaminate vegetables prepared on the same board [26]. De Boer and Hahne [27] showed that
Salmonella and Campylobacter were easily transferred from chicken to a variety of kitchen surfaces,
utensils, hands and other foods. During the preparation of a chicken casserole, Campylobacter and
Salmonella were also isolated from several food and hand contact surfaces even after those surfaces have
been washed and cleaned [28]. High incidence of cross-contamination in 25 domestic kitchens by
potential pathogens (Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and S. aureus) was also detected during the
preparation of a chicken lunch [29].