Are paper towels sterile?

[Stephen Tashiro]

Standard food safety advice is to wipe things with paper towels instead of a dish rag, which may be contaminated from wiping other things.

But how sanitary are paper towels? I assume that some precautions are taken in manufacturing them. Do these actually keep the towels sterile? For what you pay for them, I'd expect a lot!

Maybe the manufacturing process sterilizes them because it requires high heat, but that leaves open the possibility that all sorts of things could contaminate them while they are being packaged. Plus, you sometimes find holes in the packages.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stephen,

I doubt paper towels are sterile but normally you would be using a fresh towel each time so you would not be transferring things....germs etc, from the cutting board or the egg beater you just wiped down with the wet dish rag..

[Shawn Pixley]

Not sterile but likely sanitary. Your dishwasher doesn't make your dishes sterile, merely sanitary

[Joe Pelonio]

When my finger is bleeding and a roll of paper towels is handy I'll use it until I get to the first aid kit, never got an infection.

[charlie knighton]

sterile is usually in sperate package, not on a roll

[Dan Hintz]

If they are in a package listed as being sterile, they are... and they lose their guaranteed sterility the moment you crack that package open. Same with band-aids. But as Shawn says, they're sanitary.

[Russ Filtz]

There is such a thing as TOO sterile for general health. I use only a fresh paper towel and a green scrubbie (w/ no sponge attached) to wash dishes. The green scrubbie (scotchbrite pad) scrubs well, yet dries quickly, unlike sponges. Works much better than nasty dish rags/sponges laying around. For those that use them, realistically how often to you actually clean/microwave them? No thanks! There have been studies done that your toilet bowl is actually cleaner than a kitchen sink. Think about that! :eek:

[Dan Hintz]

Stop peeing in the sink!

[Stephen Tashiro]

Forum members appear to have great confidence in paper towels, but I haven't heard any details about their manufacture that justifies the confidence.
I suppose any product that is dry won't harbor many bacteria. That still leaves viruses, eggs of parasites, bacterial spores such as anthrax (Ok, perhaps that one is too melodramatic).

The safety of paper towels brings to mind a similar question about the sanitation of paper plates, cups, napkins and the disposable plastic plates and utensils used for picnics. If I unpack a new set of china bowls or metal utensils, I'd always wash them before using them in a meal. The picnic stuff? - I don't wash it. I just assume it is made with due attention to keeping it safe to eat from. I wonder if it really is. Oh well, picnics are destined to be somewhat unsanitary anyway.

[Joe Pelonio]

Keep in mind that federal government standards for food do allow for a certain percentage of bug parts, rat droppings and so on. If people know what they were eating at times, they'd probably prefer to starve. Paper towels and plates are probably not a big deal compared to the potential problems with food.

[Matt Meiser]

Yes, food plants and grocery stores, and our own kitchens, definitely aren't sterile environments.

[Belinda Barfield]

As Dan posted, sterile item are individually packaged and marked sterile. Once the package is opened the item is no longer really sterile unless opened in a 100% sterile environment.

One thing my SO does in the kitchen really drives me nuts. I have sponge just for washing dishes (when I hand wash). He doesn't understand why I don't let him help out in the kitchen and the reason is that every time he does, he wipes down the counters and range top with the same sponge, then leaves it in the sink. I then go back, rinse the sponge, and microwave it for one minute to hopefully kill at least some of the bugs. I wipe down the surfaces with a dishcloth and Lysol cleaner.

I try to be lenient with the "rules" about vacuuming, etc., but my kitchen rules are pretty strict. They may be wrong, but they're my rules. For really nasty clean up I use paper towels.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Keep in mind that federal government standards for food do allow for a certain percentage of bug parts, rat droppings and so on.

Is that all foods or just things like spices?

[Dan Hintz]

All foods... the stuff that ends up in peanut butter really make you stop and think.

[Stephen Tashiro]

All foods... the stuff that ends up in peanut butter really make you stop and think.

Are these federal standards? I browsed fda.gov and didn't find a standard like that. I recall a newspaper story that standards for spices allow insect parts. However, on the fda.gov site there are examples of reports to orange juice manufacturers warning them that one or two "fly like" insects were observed in their manufacturing plants.

Edit: I found the FDA standard here: http://www.fda.gov/food/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidancedocuments/sanitation/ucm056174.htm#CHPT1

[Russ Filtz]

Forum members appear to have great confidence in paper towels, but I haven't heard any details about their manufacture that justifies the confidence.
I suppose any product that is dry won't harbor many bacteria. That still leaves viruses, eggs of parasites, bacterial spores such as anthrax (Ok, perhaps that one is too melodramatic).

The safety of paper towels brings to mind a similar question about the sanitation of paper plates, cups, napkins and the disposable plastic plates and utensils used for picnics. If I unpack a new set of china bowls or metal utensils, I'd always wash them before using them in a meal. The picnic stuff? - I don't wash it. I just assume it is made with due attention to keeping it safe to eat from. I wonder if it really is. Oh well, picnics are destined to be somewhat unsanitary anyway.


Keep in mind that pretty much ALL white papers go through some sort of bleaching process (either real bleach or oxygen/peroxide). This is addition to chemicals used in the pulping/deinking process. Then you have the rolling/drying process (heat). If the bugs live through all that, then more power to them!

If you're this worried about clean paper products, don't start looking into the water you're drinking! A lot of things are not processed out in a typical water treatment plant such as pharmaceuticals (hormones, etc.) and possibly encysted microbes (cryptosporidium!).

[Don Jarvie]

Paper towels are considered "clean" in that they don't have any dirt, bacteria, etc on them. The FDA wouldn't regulate the paper towels but the company has to meet industry standards for manufacturing, facilities, etc.

If a company were to make paper towels sterile the roll would cost to much for them to make any money.

[Joe Pelonio]

Thanks Stephen, that does show what I was talking about. This is the standard for peanut butter where the FDA would become involved:

PEANUT BUTTER Insect filth
(AOAC 968.35) Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams Rodent filth
(AOAC 968.35) Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams Grit
(AOAC 968.35) Gritty taste and water insoluble inorganic residue is more than 25 mg per 100 grams

[Stephen Tashiro]

Keep in mind that pretty much ALL white papers go through some sort of bleaching process (either real bleach or oxygen/peroxide). This is addition to chemicals used in the pulping/deinking process. Then you have the rolling/drying process (heat). If the bugs live through all that, then more power to them!

Good point about the bleaching. Maybe we should worry about the chemicals.



If you're this worried about clean paper products, don't start looking into the water you're drinking!

"Curious" and "worried" are two different things. I'm curious whether there is any justification for the confidence people have in paper towels, paper napkins and paper plates. So far, I see no reason to trust a paper towel more than a dish rag that's soaked in a dilute solution of bleach and used for a limited purpose, not for cleaning up every surface in sight.

Aren't any of the paper plates and napkins we use made by those foreign devils that we don't trust to make other products?

[Joe Pelonio]

Good point about the bleaching.
Aren't any of the paper plates and napkins we use made by those foreign devils that we don't trust to make other products?
Well, paper plates and napkins generally don't contain paint (lead) or melamine, but many if not most are likely made tin China these days.

[Brian Elfert]

I suspect some of the reasoning behind a paper towel versus a rag is all kinds of stuff can live in a rag is constantly damp. Commercial kitchens are supposed to wipe down all cardboard boxes and other packaging, but of the few kitchens I have been in I have never seen it done.

Some of the food factories I've seen on TV documentaries are probably cleaned better than your average hospital. One was a turkey processing plant. The side of the plant with raw turkeys was seperated from the cooked side of the plant. Workers who crossed between the two sides had to change clothes and walk through a sanitizing station for their footwear. The day shift processed food and there was a night shift that disassembled everything and cleaned the plant from top to bottom. The plant has an on-site lab that randomly tests for bacteria and any failed areas are recleaned.

I'm sure all food plants aren't as clean as that one.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, paper plates and napkins generally don't contain paint (lead) or melamine, but many if not most are likely made tin China these days.

Well they aren't supposed to anyway.

[Russ Filtz]

I doubt most paper products are made overseas. Too low value and light weight. The two I just checked Charmin TP and Bounty towels are made in USA, but from domestic and imported materials. The imported materials are probably virgin pulp or wood from deforested rainforests, etc. I think our virgin pulp mills have been doing OK, but recycled mills have been closing. Much of our recycled paper, esp. cardboard and news, has been going to China, at least before the recession, but will probably continue.

[BOB OLINGER]

'Keep in mind that federal government standards for food do allow for a certain percentage of bug parts, rat droppings and so on. If people know what they were eating at times, they'd probably prefer to starve.'

This simply isn't true. I amazed that someone would state this. Furthermore, if anyone believes it, they are certainly out of tune.

[Jason Roehl]

Surely you don't think any manufacturing process or government oversight of said process is perfect, do you, Bob?

I don't doubt that there's all kinds of different contaminants and foreign bodies in our processed foods. The key is, what is the concentration? In addition, I don't really care. I think our bodies, if healthy, do an amazing job of handling lots of different things put into our digestive systems. Just hitting that 1.7 pH stomach acid does much to take care of many, many contaminants and less-than-palatable items.

[Dan Hintz]

'Keep in mind that federal government standards for food do allow for a certain percentage of bug parts, rat droppings and so on. If people know what they were eating at times, they'd probably prefer to starve.'

This simply isn't true. I amazed that someone would state this. Furthermore, if anyone believes it, they are certainly out of tune.
So are you saying the FDA documents stating they have maximum allowable limits for most processes are simply there as eye candy? Are you also saying that every plant out there is 100% rodent-/insect-free?

I'd say anyone who believes that is out of touch with reality...

[Jim Rimmer]

One of my son's favorite questions is: Would you eat the individual components of a hot dog? :eek:

[Russ Filtz]

One of my son's favorite questions is: Would you eat the individual components of a hot dog? :eek:

Pork butt can be tasty! Oh, not it's not THAT kind of butt! :eek:

[Cary Falk]

One of my son's favorite questions is: Would you eat the individual components of a hot dog? :eek:

<Chris Rock voice on>
"I'd eat a pig's azz if ya cook it right."
<Chris Rock voice off>

Edit to add: In a lot of countries, bugs and rodents are a main source of protein.