Most people think the bathroom is the most unsanitary room in their houses. But according to Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, we need only tour our kitchens for finding dangerous bacteria that lurk in dishtowels, kitchen sponges, cutting boards, sinks and even inside the refrigerator.

The most insidious, common culprit of food-borne illness is salmonella, a bacterium that can cause everything from flu-like symptoms to severe illness or worse when ingested. According to the USDA Food Safety Education website, an estimated 6.5 million to 33 million cases of human illness from food contamination occurs annually in the U.S. – resulting in about 9,000 deaths a year.

“What many of us don’t realize,” says Mattos, “is that trace amounts of salmonella lurk everywhere. It’s even on our desks. But when it comes in contact with raw meat, it grows and festers quickly, and remains there until it is killed through cooking.” To help assist the public in its safe handling of meat products, Mattos recommends adhering to the adage, “Keep it hot, keep it cold, or don’t keep it at all.”

Cutting boards remain the least obvious vehicles of bacterial transmission in the kitchen. “People often don’t think about the potential for contamination when they’re cutting meat on a board and then use it afterwards to cut vegetables on it. They’re often more focused on cooking the meat properly and forget that those raw juices can get into your salad.”

Cutting boards, he adds, should be washed in hot, soapy water after preparing each food item. The same rule applies to kitchen countertops, cooking utensils and our own human hands.

Another common misstep regarding kitchen food safety centers around the sink, which home cooks assume always stays clean because they wash dishes in it. Mattos suggests cleaning out the basin with soap and a clean sponge after each dishwashing session.

In regards to those tattered kitchen sponges that can chase hungry dogs away with their foul odors, Mattos believes that paper towels are a “safer way to go” because they don’t get reused. Yet if sponges are your thing, he urges they be cleaned with hot soap and water after each use – and to buy large packages of them so they can be changed twice a week.

As most experts will agree, food safety awareness actually begins in the grocery store the moment we pluck packaged meat products from the shelves. That unpleasant sliminess some packages exude could potentially cross-contaminate fruits and vegetables sharing space in the same grocery cart. But Mattos assures that with chicken, for example, the established growers such as Foster Farms use modern packaging systems that eliminate most chances of anything leaking out. It is when the consumer or an adjoining product might accidentally puncture the package that the risk increases. Double-bagging meats at the checkout counter is a safe bet.

Mattos adds, “We’re proud to say that we’ve never had a food-borne illness traced back to one California poultry company. It occurs after it leaves the grocery store shelves. The chickens go through a water bath and chiller at every step of the way in production. We’re vigilant in making sure their products stay safe – from the farm to the supermarket.”

Among the other safe food-handling tips Mattos provides are:

Don’t overpack your refrigerator or picnic cooler. Refrigerators should be kept at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below for safe storage.

Always thaw food in the refrigerator, or in cold water, while changing the water often.

Use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of your meats. Chicken and turkey, for example, should reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit before it is consumed.

Always clean the racks of your outdoor barbecue with a wire brush, or with soap and water, before reusing them.

Refrigerate that leftover barbecue chicken and other meat products within two hours of cooking.