New research from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has found that more than half of all dishcloths used for cleaning in UK restaurants are 'unhygienic'.

According to the public health agency, most of the 120 restaurants and take-away kitchens surveyed were reusing cloths and failing to reduce the risk of spreading potentially harmful bacteria. The HPA said that cloths should be changed and disinfected regularly to help prevent food poisoning, while separate cloths must be used for areas where both raw and ready-to-eat food is prepared.

Around a third of restaurants surveyed by the agency were found to be following the recommended advice on using disposable cloths that are changed regularly, with the remainder using reusable cloths. Dr John Piggott, lead author from the HPA food, water and environmental microbiology laboratory in Leeds, said: "It's of concern that despite recommendations to use disposable cloths the majority of restaurants we surveyed were re-using cleaning cloths and some were unaware how often they changed them.

"Although many disinfected their cloths using bleach or other disinfectants, soaking does not remove the food on which the bacteria grow. The disinfectant qualities of bleach do wear off after a period of time so soaking large amounts of cloths together can result in bacteria contaminating more cloths and creating more potential problems."