In the new study, some scientists have found that tea you sip in your office with very giggling mood carries 17 times more germs than a toilet seat contain. The research carried out by the  Initial Washroom Hygiene scientists, the average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat.

The conclusions also showed that the high bacterial readings on other pieces of kitchen tools that are integral parts of making tea - kettle handles (2,483), the rim of a used mug (1,746) and a fridge door handle (1,592). The study, which conducted a poll of 1,000 workers, also found that 80 percent of people working in an office wouldn’t think to wash their hands before making drinks for colleagues.

Dr. Peter Barratt of Initial Washroom Hygiene assumes that offices should be more aware of the levels of hygiene in their communal kitchens. “If you stop to think about the number of different hands that touch things such as the kettle handle, tea bag box lid, mugs, and so on, the potential for cross contamination really adds up,” Dr. Barratt replied.

He further adds that using anti-bacterial wipes on kitchen surfaces and regularly cleaning the mug can pay huge dividends in terms of maintaining a healthy workforce