The experiment that shows why you should wash your hands before touching food 2026

We know that washing our hands is a fundamental act of hygiene and that it also has an impact on our health, since this simple habit reduces the risk of suffering from certain infections. We have heard a thousand times how doctors recommend it as a preventive measure against flu, colds and it is even one of the preventive measures that is being taken against the Wuhan coronavirus.

We instill the habit of washing our hands in children from a very young age because we know that it is essential for their health, but are we really aware of the amount of germs we have on our hands? The truth is that no. A teacher wanted to show her students this reality with a small experiment and the result could not be more shocking and enlightening.

Amazon Essentials by Sofia Grainge - Summer 2026 Promotion

An experiment at school

Doctor in Food Science and Technology Miguel A. Lurueña has shared on his Instagram account, @gominolasdepetróleo, a photo that has impacted and generated great curiosity among his followers. It shows three slices of bread placed in different plastic bags and it can be seen that two of them have clear symptoms of decomposition caused by germs.

To do this experiment, one of the slices of bread was kept in the bag with dirty hands, the other after having washed them with an alcohol gel and the third after washing their hands with soap and water. Once this was done, they kept the airtight bags with the bread inside for a month and after that time they took the bags again to observe them. The slice of bread that had been touched with dirty hands was in very poor condition and with a large amount of mold, the slice that had been touched with the hands after having been rubbed with an alcohol gel also showed some decomposition and mold, however, the bread that had been touched with the hands after having been rubbed with soap and water showed no alterations.

This experiment shows the effectiveness of washing your hands with soap and water and how important it is to do so before touching food, otherwise we already know where those germs end up...

Another similar experiment

It is not the first time that experiments of this type appear on the Internet. The one that a US teacher named Jaralee Metcalf did with a classmate at school with her students also went viral. In this case, they took 5 slices of bread: one of them was put into the bag directly from the package, without being touched, another was put into the bag after being touched by children who had not washed their hands, another slice of bread was touched by children who had washed their hands with disinfectant gel, another piece was put into the bag by children who had washed their hands with soap and water and another of them was put into the bag after having passed it over laptops. The result after 3-4 weeks was also shocking and very clear:

- The bread that had not been touched was practically the same.

- The bread that had been introduced by children who had washed their hands with soap and water only had a few small stains in the center.

- The bread that had been touched after rubbing hands with disinfectant had mold.

- The bread that the students had touched with dirty hands was very moldy and very decomposed.

- The slice of bread that had been scrubbed by the laptops was completely covered in mold and in very poor condition.

The teacher did not hesitate to share it on her Facebook profile and explain the experiment to clarify doubts and the images speak for themselves.

Surely after seeing this we feel much more eager to wash our hands and insist that the children do it frequently.