Malls: Your shopper’s paradise may look all swanky and clean, but studies show that malls are infested with germs. With a steady inflow of people, the germs get added on faster than they are cleaned. While you may expect places like bathrooms and escalator hand bars are expected to be dirty, table tops in food courts are also a haven for germs. They are wiped often enough, but the cloth used to clean them isn’t.

ATMs: I’m sure you don’t think twice before using that touch screen ATM or before punching in your pin at the nearest teller machine. Research shows that bacteria like the E. Coli and the cold and flu viruses are aplenty on the screen as well as the keypad. The germiest key? The enter key!

Supermarkets: To be more specific, supermarkets with shopping carts. They get used by a large number of people and aren’t sanitized regularly. A study found traces of saliva, bacteria and even fecal matter on the handles of these shopping carts! Be smart, use a sanitizer once you are done with your shopping.

Toy stores: This would be every parent’s nightmare! Research shows that most kids play with the toys put on display. This usually involves rubbing the toy on their faces or putting it in their mouth. Needless to say, when the toy goes back to the shelf, so do the germs. Ensure you wipe down any toy you buy before you let your child play with it and whenever possible, pick one which is in a sealed box

Electronic stores: Studies indicate that when you share a person’s phone, you also end up sharing his germs which may be on the phone. Just imagine a whole shop full of phones and gadgets being tried out by different people. While the stores do clean up their products, they certainly don’t do it after every use.

Your kitchen: Sinks, counter tops, the gas stove. While its a daily routine in many households to clean the bathroom daily, kitchen cleaning occurs only once a week! Studies showed that the kitchen sink was found to be the germiest place in a house. More often than not, the cloth or scrub used to wipe the kitchen sink and counter tops isn’t cleaned regularly and is a breeding ground for germs.

Make up shops: Most of the make-up stores now have a sample that you can try on. It makes shopping for that perfect lipstick easy, but have you wondered how many women would have used it before you? A study conducted at a make-up store indicated the presence of E. Coli and other bacteria which could cause cold and cough.

BDST: 1109 HRS, Dec-29, 2013
Edited by: Sharmina islam, Lifestyle Editor