Some bacteria can thrive in microwave ovens

Even the microwave oven in your kitchen is not immune to bacteria.

The radiant environment inside a microwave oven can seem inhospitable to germs. But swabs from microwave ovens in several different areas identified more than 100 bacterial species, researchers report Aug. 7 in Frontiers in Microbiology. This is the first time scientists have documented the microbial communities that live in microwave ovens, according to the researchers.

Microbiologist Manuel Porcar and colleagues wiped the interior—including the walls and turntable—of 30 microwave ovens that were being actively used in three different environments: 10 from kitchens, 10 from laboratories, and 10 from other common spaces such as cafeterias. The samples taken were then transferred to laboratory dishes, all of which led to significant bacterial growth.

DNA analysis of the bacterial colonies showed that they were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria AND Bacteroideteswhich are commonly found on human skin and on surfaces that people touch frequently. Cultures from kitchen microwave ovens included bacteria that can cause foodborne illness, including Klebsiella AND Brevundimonas. It is unclear how these bacterial strains can survive in microwave ovens, the team says, and further work is needed to understand how they are adapted to high temperatures and electromagnetic radiation.

Porcar, of the University of Valencia in Spain, notes that the microorganisms they found in household microwave ovens were the same as those found on a kitchen surface (SN: 3/1/22). “Some of them are pathogenic and you should clean the microwave as much as any other kitchen surface,” he says. However, he points out that kitchen microwave ovens are not a particular cause for concern. “Nothing to worry about more than cleaning every other part of the kitchen that comes into contact with food.”

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