Pet Bowls Bacteria

There's a serious health hazard that's likely lurking in your home -- and all of the dirty details can be found in a just-released study out of the UK.

I'm not talking about the toilet, the kitchen floor, or the refrigerator -- not even the unidentifiable fuzzy things in your veggie bins.

It's your bowls!

While many different kinds can harbor dangerous strains of bacteria, including E. coli and MRSA, there's one type of bowl that tends to carry the highest bacteria count.

And there's another that tends to attract the riskiest kinds of pathogens.

Fortunately, you can banish these bugs from your bowls with a few quick disinfecting tricks. And you can make your kitchen inhospitable to future infestations... if you know which kind of bowl to switch to. (I'll share that with you in a moment.)

Researchers at Hartpury University focused on pet bowls -- specifically, plastic, ceramic, and stainless-steel water bowls for pups.

Now, with all of the recent news about BPA, you know what a health hazard the chemicals found in plastics can be.

But that's not all. Plastic goods eventually get scratched -- and it turns out that those grooves can make perfect hiding places for bacteria to take up residence.

In the study, the most bacteria flocked to those made of plastic! And don't think that all of those plastic storage containers you've collected over the years are safe from that kind of infestation.

The older that plastic bowl or container is, the more likely it is to be harboring bacteria. So, even ones that look perfectly fine to the naked eye could still be teeming with pathogens!

Ceramic didn't fare much better in the study. Although it wasn't as hazardous as plastic in terms of quantity, the researchers detected even more dangerous pathogens!

And while stainless steel was the best of the lot, it won't repel microbes unless it's taken care of in the right way.

Clearly, it's not enough to simply dump your pet's water daily... give the bowl a swish under the tap... and fill it up again.

So, here are the top three ways to give bacteria the boot!

#1 Stop storing food in plastic containers, especially if they've been scraped up by utensils. Use glass and stainless steel for leftovers and re-heating.

#2 Even though plastic is recommended if you're prepping meat and poultry, use a plate as a cutting board instead -- and put it right into the dishwasher afterward. For cutting everything else, you want a high-quality hardwood board, which has natural anti-bacterial properties.

#3 As for pet bowls, go with stainless steel! If your pup tends to push the water bowl around or knock it over, get one that fits inside a secure holder. If you don't have a spare so it can be cleaned in the dishwasher, make sure to wash it out well every day with hot, soapy water.

And if there's any doubt, throw it out!

To Being a Bad Host to Bugs,