Can my kitchen sink be a source of food poisoning? What are some key points I should be careful about?

Cases of food poisoning have occurred due to food becoming contaminated via a sink. Examples have occurred in which vegetables for a salad or other foods became contaminated via a sink with bacteria which cause food poisoning from raw meat and other sources.
Just like other utensils, sinks should be thoroughly washed and disinfected after handling materials such as raw meat and fish. Also be sure to thoroughly check the cleanliness of your sink before handling salads and other, already prepared foods which will be eaten without further washing or cooking.

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Several cases of food poisoning have occurred in the past which are believed to have been caused by food becoming contaminated via a sink.
The following cases occurred in restaurants and lunch facilities, but could have just as easily happened in a home. Be sure to take appropriate precautions in your own kitchen.

Example 1
◆Source facility: Restaurant (soba)
◆No. of victims: 102
◆Source food: Wakame and kamaboko (soba toppings)
◆Illness: Vibrio parahaemolyticus
◆Cause: Thawing of frozen shrimp, soaking of dried wakame, cutting of kamaboko, and washing of containers were all conducted in the same sink. Vibrio parahaemolyticus on the frozen shrimp is suspected to have gotten on the wakame and kamaboko via the sink and worker hands.

Example 2
◆Source facility: Mass lunch facility
◆No. of victims: 445
◆Source food: Food at a student lunch hall
◆Illness: Enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157
◆Cause: It is suspected that the outbreak was caused by employees’ insufficient hand washing, insufficient separation of use and sterilization of utensils, inappropriate storage of utensils, and shared usage of the same sink for preparation of raw vegetables and meat.

☆Observe the following pouts to prevent food poisoning caused by your sink!
1. If you have two sinks, use different sinks for different purposes and different foods. If you have only one sink, prepare foods that will not be cooked first, like salads.
2. Do not allow foods to come in direct contact with a sink.
3. Thoroughly wash a sink after use and sterilize as necessary.