When’s the last time you cleaned that coffee pot?

Study finds ickiness brewing in water reservoir, handle

If working at the Yuma Sun has taught me anything, it’s this: germs are everywhere.

I remember a point in my life where I didn’t give this subject much if any thought at all, but once I started working here, I found myself reading a lot of studies on health-related topics.

And in the years since I’ve worked here, I’ve learned that bacteria, viruses and germs lurk in unexpected places. Kitchen towels, bathroom towels, reusable grocery bags, bathtub toys (look out, rubber ducky!), kitchen sponges, cell phones and more … all have landed on the “things you need to clean more often … with bleach” list.

Out in the public eye, it’s the plastic trays in airport security, railings, light switches, airplane seats, cash, coins, debit and credit cards … you get the picture.

My default response anymore is to just carry a little container of hand sanitizer in my purse. At the office, I put a few bottles around the newsroom too, in the hopes of keeping colds and the flu at bay.

But recently, I read yet another report about a hotspot for germs: the coffee pot.

USA Today notes that if people follow the manufacturer’s directions for cleaning the coffee pot, then all is well.

Without that routine cleaning, however, a coffee pot can become a little incubator.

Now, most people probably wash the coffee pot itself regularly. And think about in an office setting – that handle is touched by countless people each day. It really needs a regular bath.

In fact, USA Today notes that in an office setting, the coffee pot handle is often one of the germiest places in the building, noting that break rooms often have more bacteria than restrooms. It’s enough to make one want to sanitize that pot right now, isn’t it?

But the overlooked issue is a less obvious one. USA Today pointed to the water reservoir, where one stores the water before brewing.

“A National Sanitation Foundation international study of kitchen products in 2011 found that 50% of the sampled reservoirs in coffee makers had mold or yeast,” USA Today reports.

The article notes that reservoirs are wet spaces, and so organisms can grow there. Fixing the problem is easy – open the reservoir and let it dry out.

Now, USA Today also reports that the coffee pot makes hot water, and that will kill most germs, but one still needs to clean it or descale it – and that last step is important here, with Yuma’s water.

Of all the studies I’ve read about germs and molds and whatnot, this was by far one of the easiest to stomach – and easiest to remedy. Just make sure that coffee maker gets a little TLC … especially at work!

DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS OR NOT?