See if RGJ Editor Kelly Scott's kitchen passes a food safety inspection. Jason Bean, RGJ


Let's cut to it: I failed. If my kitchen were a restaurant, it would've been shut down on the spot.

The reasons had nothing to do with the things I thought would be problematic: expired ketchup, a butter dish on the counter, a dirty sink, unlabeled leftovers in the fridge, some egg crust left on a pan that the dishwasher didn't get.

It was the kitchen sink that did me in.

My farmhouse-style sink is one big tub and, well, that's a problem. A sink needs to be divided for cleaning dishes, sanitizing them and hand washing.

MORE: How clean is that restaurant? We analyzed Reno's food inspections — here's what we found

I agreed to have a Washoe County Health District inspector come into my home kitchen and go through it as if she were inspecting a restaurant. We wanted to explain to Reno Gazette Journal readers some of the health hazards lurking in the average kitchen, knowledge they can use to help keep their families safe.

The inspector went point by point through the kitchen, first washing her hands (thank God the hand soap container was full), then moving on to the rest.

Here are my takeaways that could help you keep your kitchen safe:

Butter belongs in the fridge 

I leave butter in a dish by the stove. I like the way room-temperature butter melts when slathered on toast or the way it quickly coats a pan to scramble eggs. Turns out butter, when left out on the counter, should be thrown out after 4 hours. And if you use it and put it back in the fridge, you should toss it after about seven days. There goes the butter dish.

Train your dogs to stay out 

I have two dogs who have the run of the place. That includes the kitchen. The dogs left a rawhide chew by the kitchen island and a toy in the entryway when the inspector arrived. Animals — even dogs that we love — are dirty and can carry all kinds of things into the kitchen. They're a no-no.  

Old grout is a nice home for bacteria

Turns out it's more than just a substance that keeps tiles together and water from leaking around the edges of the sink. If it's old (and I live in an Old Southwest house built in 1938), then it can be a great place for bacteria and other things that can cause foodborne illness.

Sponges are never clean 

Somewhere, I read that if you microwave a sponge now and then, you can keep using it. That isn't true, according to my food inspector. You never can really get them clean. Toss them.

MORE: Pass or fail? Search for your favorite restaurants and their inspections here

Raw meat and produce don't mix

While they might co-exist in the fridge, they shouldn't share a shelf. And raw meat shouldn't occupy the shelf above the produce, either. That's hard with a fridge that has the traditional produce drawers at the bottom.

The thing is, pathogens from raw meat and seafood that cause food poisoning can easily spread to other foods. I'm going to have to do some maneuvering to make things right in my fridge going forward.

Label the leftovers

Label them. Know how long they've been in that fridge. Otherwise, it's tough to know if they should be reheated or tossed.  

Meat + wood = bad news 

Meat never belongs on wood. Cutting boards. Counters. Or elsewhere. If you have butcher block counters or island top, you should get something to put over the wood. 

As for cutting boards, you need to toss them — regardless of whether they're made from wood, plastic, granite or whatever else — when they look used (and that's pretty fast). The inspector said she has three kinds of cutting boards that she uses for different types of food. I'm going to do some online shopping ASAP to make that happen in my kitchen.

Cleaners below the sink 

I typically store on the windowsill above my sink some dish soap, some anti-bacterial cleaner and a mild cleaner that smells fresh. I mostly do that because of convenience.

Turns out that putting the chemical cleaners there provides ample opportunities for contaminating food, dishes and other types of preparations that take place in the sink. Guess they'll have to join the other cleaners under the sink. 


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