A new study has revealed our hand-washing habits during food preparation are so abysmal, we could be spiking the family dinner table with harmful bacteria without even realising. But the good news is the problem is very easy to fix.

一项新的研究表明，我们在准备食物过程中的卫生习惯非常糟糕，我们可能会把有害的病菌带到食物中，而自己甚至毫无察觉。好消息是，问题很容易解决。

In a recent observational study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), 383 volunteers agreed to prepare a meal of turkey burgers and salad at specially designed test kitchens, where their every step would be monitored.

在美国农业部(USDA)最近进行的一项观察性研究中，383名志愿者同意在特别设计的测试厨房里烹制一餐火鸡汉堡和沙拉，他们的所有步骤都在监控下完成。

To measure the spread of potential contamination in a kitchen, the raw burgers were laced with an RNA virus called bacteriophage MS2 - harmless to humans, this virus can be used to simulate the spread of more nasty pathogens, such as the noroviruses that lead to food poisoning.

为了揭示厨房中可能造成食物中毒的污染途径，汉堡原料中含有一种名为噬菌体MS2的RNA病毒。它对人体无害，该病毒可以用来模拟高危险性病原体的传播过程。

The study wasn't about hand-washing, though. After splitting the volunteers into a 'control' and 'treatment' group, researchers compared people's cooking behaviour depending on whether they watched an instructional food safety video on how to measure the safe internal temperature of cooked meat.

然而，这项研究并不是关于洗手的。在将志愿者分成“对照”组和“实验”组后，研究人员会根据他们是否观看了关于如何测量熟肉内部温度的教学视频来评价他们的烹饪行为。

After recording the entire cooking and cleaning session, the team also noticed alarming departures from proper hand-washing practices - 97 percent of the participants didn't include all the handwashing steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

在记录整个烹饪和清洁过程后，该团队还注意到如何正确洗手的问题令人担忧——97%的参与者没有使用疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)所推荐的步骤。

Here are those steps: wet your hands, lather up with soap, scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds, rinse the hands, and dry them either using a clean towel or by air drying.

正确的洗手步骤：

·用水打湿双手

·用肥皂涂满双手全部表面

·掌对掌摩擦

·用右掌摩擦左手背，手指交错，然后再反过来

·再掌对掌摩擦，手指要交错

·用手指背部上下摩擦反手手掌，双手要相扣

·用左拇指插进右手掌做旋转，再反过来

·用右手指尖摩擦左手掌，再反过来，上述洗手过程持续至少20秒

·用干净毛巾擦干或自然晾干

·包着纸巾关掉龙头

According to the study, both the control group and treatment group overwhelmingly - an average of 79.5 percent - failed to scrub their hands for at least 20 seconds. Many of them also didn't wet their hands before lathering up, and didn't dry their hands properly after rinsing.

根据该研究，对照组和实验组的绝大多数人——平均为79.5%——擦洗时间未达到20秒。他们中的许多人在起泡之前也没有弄湿手，并且在漂洗后也没有正确地擦干双手。

Since the researchers collected microbial samples from around the kitchen to see where MS2 from the raw meat ended up, the contamination from these lax hand-washing attitudes became bleedingly obvious.

由于研究人员收集了厨房周围的微生物样本，以掌握MS2的分布，不正确的洗手态度造成的污染变得非常明显。

Nearly half of the people in the control group contaminated the spice containers they used when preparing burgers, and 11 percent also contaminated refrigerator handles and water taps.

对照组中近一半的人污染了他们在准备汉堡时使用的香料容器，11%的人还污染了冰箱把手和水龙头。

Most disturbingly, 5 percent of the control group managed to carry the virus from the meat patties to the salad lettuce about to be served with the meal.

最令人不安的是，5%的对照组成员将病毒从生肉馅引向了即食性的沙拉生菜。

"This rate of contamination of the salad indicates that cross-contamination was not necessarily frequent but did occur with some regularity, which could be a significant area of concern when extrapolated nationally," the researchers wrote in a summary of their report.

“沙拉的污染率表明，交叉污染并不频繁，但确实会发生，这可能是在全国范围内要更加重视的环节。”研究人员在报告摘要中写道。

As for meat thermometer use, people in the group who watched the video were twice as likely to use a thermometer and to insert it in the correct location of the patty (from the side, in case you're wondering). And 66 percent of them said the video influenced their cooking behaviour.

至于肉类温度计的使用，观看视频的人群中使用温度计并将其插入小馅饼正确位置的人数比不观看视频的人群中多一倍(从侧面插入温度计，如果你想知道的话)。 66%的受访者表示该视频影响了他们的烹饪行为。

But even if you manage to cook your food to a "safe internal temperature", that's little use to your family who ends up eating tainted salad because you didn't wash your hands.

但即使你确实将肉食煮到了“安全的内部温度”，这对你的家人来说也没什么用处，因为你没有正确洗手，所以大家最后一起吃掉了被生肉污染的沙拉。

Since CDC data shows around 128,000 Americans get hospitalised due to foodborne illnesses every year, we're guessing the USDA is already producing their next instructional video.

疾病预防控制中心的数据显示每年约有128000名美国人因食源性疾病住院，我们猜测美国农业部已经在制作下一组教学视频了。

"You can't see, smell or feel bacteria," says USDA spokesperson Carmen Rottenberg."By simply washing your hands properly, you can protect your family and prevent that bacteria from contaminating your food and key areas in your kitchen."

“你无法看到，闻到或感受到细菌，”美国农业部发言人Carmen Rottenberg说，“通过简单地洗手操作，您就可以保护到您的家人，防止细菌污染您的食物和厨房。”

Of course, the vast majority of microbes kicking around our environments are totally fine, so there's no need to panic and go full-on germaphobe in your kitchen - just use common sense and properly wash your hands with soap and water.

当然，我们的环境中的绝大多数微生物都非常友好，所以没有必要恐慌或动用高效灭菌设备——只需掌握常识，正确地利用肥皂和水清洁你的双手。