Excerpted from The 10 Dirtiest Spots in Your Kitchen, Woman's Day, Jan 2013.

Think your kitchen is squeaky clean? Not so fast. “Moisture and food particles make it the perfect environment for growing germs that can make you sick,” says Kelly A. Reynolds, PhD, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health in Tucson. “If you’re not killing them, you can go from 10 microbes to millions within 24 hours.” And the more germs there are, the more likely you are to get sick from one. Here’s where they’re hiding and what you can do about it.

From the kitchen sink to the handbag sitting on the countertop, follow this Kitchen Cleaning Checklist and keep your cooking zone germ free! more >