Your Cracked Kitchen Cabinets May be Harming Your Food

With the recent E Coli outbreaks, concerns with food-borne illness are on the rise. Did you know that remodeling your kitchen cabinets may actually help prevent food-borne pathogens from lurking in your kitchen?

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Germs Check in, but They Don't Check Out

You may not be aware that your old, cracked cabinets may contribute to food contamination. According to the FDA, experts have identified as many as five times the number of food-borne pathogens than those that were originally known 50 years ago. As a result of the increased pathogens, the number of food-borne illnesses is increasing. These strains can easily thrive within your kitchen cabinets if you don't take the proper precautions. Germs, mold, and bacteria can hide in scrapes and cracks in your cabinets and ultimately create an infested environment for your food.

The Cabinet Quality Test

You still may not have to replace your cabinets entirely to create a more sanitary food storage area. The quality of your existing cabinets will be your prevailing factor in determining if your contractor should remodel the interior or exterior of your cabinets, or replace them. Here's a test:

  • Do your cabinet interiors have cracks?
  • Are your cabinets in decent condition and not cheaply made? Even the most experienced contractor can't transform cheap material into good material.
  • Do the hinges and suspensions glide easily? Are the latches user-friendly and do the doors open and close smoothly?

Keep Your Food Safe

If your cabinets pass the quality test, you may be able to just do a light exterior remodel of the cabinets. Refacing requires about a third of the cost and time that it does to remodel with new cabinets because your existing cabinets are already installed, leveled, finished, and operational. To reface, your contractor replaces your cabinet doors and drawers by gluing thin sheets of wood or laminate on top of the cabinet boxes. Call your contractor and you'll update the look of your kitchen while keeping your food safe.

Sources:
Remodeling Online – Cost Vs Value Report
Akron Beacon Journal- So You've Got Cabinet Fever?
PRW.Com