Everyone dreads the possibility of getting food poisoning. It can happen to anyone, and unfortunately, there are more ways out there to get it than we can even imagine. We know you can get it from undercooked foods, unsanitary preparations, and spoiled ingredients.

But did you know there is another culprit that could be the reason for your food poisoning? You probably didn’t realize that your tea towel could be making you sick. Researchers have found that 37 percent of dish towels are full of enterococcus bacteria and 14 percent were covered in staphylococcus bacteria.

That’s not even the worst of it though. The same study also showed that 37 percent of the tea towels were full of  E. coli bacteria. All of these bacterias can easily be spread to your clean dishes and countertops if you are using the towels to dry them off.

The amount of bacteria on the towels depends on what your diet contains and how big your family is. The study showed that large households who eat meat, and families with lower socioeconomic backgrounds were found to have the highest rates of bacterial growth.

So how do you prevent this bacteria without using a ton of paper towels instead? The study showed that using a damp towel is never a good idea because that makes it easier to spread the bacteria around. They recommend using dry towels instead.

They also suggest that you use disposable towels for washing counter tops because that way you’re not collecting and spreading unnecessary bacteria. Another culprit for spreading bacteria…your kitchen sponge. It is one of the dirtiest objects in your house.

How often do you wash your dish towel? You might want to consider washing it more often, or just not using one at all to wipe your kitchen surfaces. Those surfaces are likely much dirtier than you ever thought.

If you found this article helpful, be sure to share it with your friends and family. None of us want to make ourselves sick by making these mistakes in our kitchen.