Why are people frightened of food ?

thriftlady_2

I'm talking about food safety issues. I've noticed that a lot of people are asking questions about how long they can leave meat and other food unrefrigerated, or how safe food is to eat after it's best before date, and other related matters.

I wonder why there seems to be this 'fear'. 50 years ago our mothers and grandmothers managed to feed families without fridges at all. I'm not saying there were never any cases of food poisoning, but what has happened to us ? Why are we scared of food ?

I suspect it is the fault of the modern school curriculum. From what I can gather, food safety is of paramount concern in the school cookery lesson. I think children are taught to fear food preparation and regard it as a potential hazard rather than a creative life skill.

No wonder many parents can't cook these days.
What do you think ?
Have you left school in recent years, what are your experiences of food safety education ?

aurora_borealis_2

I'm quite careful. My mother managed to poison me several times

She used to make a stew from chicken carcass and reheat it day after day.
Food was left out for hours too.
Having said that, I've just eaten a prepacked sandwich (the shame!) that was a day past its date.

My friend will eat yoghurts that are a month out of date!

ellas9602

hello thriftlady :hello:

I'm 25 and I remember in cookery having colour coded knives and boards to prevent contamination and also being taught for a whole term on how products should be stored in a fridge, and even more lessons on the habits of flies. I also recall a poster on the wall which said 'if its hot its clean' with a picture of a chopping board being scolded with hot water, I thought this was good advice and always remembered this little bit. Now that I'm OS If food looks/smells ok I'll eat it regardless of the date. I wasn't brought up this way though, my mum will give me perfectly good food 'for the dog' (yeah right!:rotfl: ) if it's due to go off tomorrow....
I'm not scared

Edited to say: I too eat v old yoghurt! :rotfl:

Littlebean_2

How true. I've just been browsing a book called Bad Food Nation. Haven't read it all yet but the essence is that cooking in the UK has become a 'spectator sport' with glossy cookery books regularly topping bestsellers lists but sales of convenience foods at an all time high. It seems that people love to watch the TV series and buy the books but not to actually cook themselves. People I work with are amazed that I make my own Fish Pie (and mash my own potatoes - I mean - how hard is it?).

Linda32

Regarding teaching safety in schools, we were taught to look along the worktop at eye level to check for crumbs. I still do that.

I am very aware of my own food safety, which I feel has alot to do with TV adverts today, domestos and the like springs to mind, I do realise however that I am being told I need such and such, by the people who are selling it.

Because food is pre-packed and bought weekly, rather than daily from local shops (for various reasons) best before dates are used. Food is kept around longer now. Thats a few of my thoughts.

pollyanna24

Haha, I agree with the mash potatoes. We had someone to stay with us, and he went, you mash your own potatoes?! Don't they take ages to cook? I was like "What?! How do you make mash then?"

Don't think I've ever had it out of the packet. What doe it taste like? :rolleyes:

lynzpower

im a bit unusual I think in that I did GCSE food studies and the ridiculously OS subject Home, family & society at a level.

In both of these there was exam based question on food hygiene, and Ive got my food hygiene certificates.

One thing I would say in food studies, theres very little that can be tested in an exam setting, so I expect a focus on food prep is easier to "test" than anything else.

Practical food prep ( ie make a 3 course meal in anb hour & a half) is OK, but so subjective and must be a nightmare for the examiners. I made on of BS fruit cakes and it was thoroughly gorgeous, we loved it, but it was flat and TBH if I put that in front of an examiner, it owuldnt get "high marks"

Also bear in mind that as food prep has become so fractured these days in the UK - ie ingredients come from all over the world, processed at multiple sites and transported in a variety of ways before it gets to table, there have been a number of massive "outbreaks" im thinking of a sudan1 and a number of high profile listeria outbreaks in the 90s.

People can die and have miscarriages and so forth through poor food hygiene, I dont think that we should be a slave to it though. Buying local food or growing your own and being OS with baking/ cooking etc is one good way of avoiding poisioning. As we ( under 30s) are the "heres a premade meal stick it in the oven" varierty, responsbility for clean food handling has been lost, and thus the knowledge that goes with it, some of it recieved wisdom, some taught at school is weak, and people lack confidence IMHO.

Personally Im of the smell it and look at it school of food prep, if theres anything wrong with it that can cause illness i chuck. there are somethings Id never take risks with- pre-coked rice or soft cheeses spring to mind. But then Im using the knowledge Ive already got there.

Sorry for the essay- but just my thoughts.

angelavdavis

Hello,

To add to lynz, my two-penneth. (I am in my thirties).

1) Many schools don't teach cookery any more so people are generally not educated about food (pressure being on academic timetables). I think my age was the last formal training provided - I did Nutrition and cookery and food and nutrition, learned as much about the nutritional science of food as well as the actual cookery. My brother is six years younger than me - weren't offered cooking as a subject (nor did his girlfriend).
2) The last two generations grew up in the frenzy about salmonella in eggs and chickens, this co-incided with the popularity of barbeques and more open use of microwaves with little education around ensuring food was cooked properly. This has made people more wary of the dangers.
3) The growing popularity of eating out means that more people pick up bugs from eating in places that produce far more meals more quickly (fast food, etc) therefore meaning that hygiene is more important and chances for cross-contamination more likely.
4) Our food travels far further distances than it would have done in our grand-mother's times, therefore we are more dependent on correct temperatures for transportation, hygienic butchering, etc to discourage spread of bugs.
5) More people travel abroad and eat food that is actually Western style in environments where this food isn't suited (and in many cases, food storage isn't designed to suit either). This means more people are prone to tummy bugs from salads that aren't chilled enough, etc. My experience has shown that food that has been prepared in the area for generations generally doesn't make people poorly (unless of course its using the local water!)
6) I generally (and controversially) don't think people wash their hands - they are just too busy!!! I think many bugs are caused by this fact alone!!!

My advice: find out where your food is coming from and buy as locally produced as possible, grow your own veg if you can (O/S and you get much better selection!), use a separate chopping board for raw meat, wash your hands regularly and ensure your washing up water is so hot that you need gloves to wash with (means that it is probably over 40 degrees which kills bugs), boil wash dishclothes as grandmothers would have done (can harbour MRSA as well as carrying other germs) and avoid drying plates, etc after washing (if water has been hot as described, it will dry quicker in the air anyway). Best one of all - if in doubt, chuck it out! Our human nature will instinctively tell us if something shouldn't be eaten!

thriftlady_2

Littlebean wrote:

How true. I've just been browsing a book called Bad Food Nation. Haven't read it all yet but the essence is that cooking in the UK has become a 'spectator sport' with glossy cookery books regularly topping bestsellers lists but sales of convenience foods at an all time high. It seems that people love to watch the TV series and buy the books but not to actually cook themselves.

Excellent book as is anything by Joanna Blythman. She does deal with this issue in Bad Food Britain.

The_Bride

I had a bad case of campylerbactor (sp) food poisoning whilst 28 weeks pregnant with DS1 which nearly sent me into prem labour. Apparantley it comes from raw chicken but I hadn't been near one for a few weeks. I have always been fussy about cleanliness in the kitchen, bleaching work tops, washing hands when cooking etc so Lord knows where it came from.

I can't remember food safety at school (Im 26) but then again we rarely had Home Ec for some reason. Luckily my Mom is into cooking so I got my knowledge (or lack of it!) from her.

doddsy

I believe that people have been bombarded with so many scare stories that they have lost the ability to trust their instincts. Also if you cook often enough you get a 'feel' for whether something looks ok or needs to be chucked, it comes down to experience which lots of younger people have not had sadly, possibly due to the curriculum and busy parents.

2 things come to mind - there is something advertised on tv (can't remember what) that says 'kills all germs - even MRSA' that's a blatant scare tactic since many of us live very happily with MRSA in our noses!

Also on 'How clean if your home' when Kim and Aggie come into someones kitchen as say 'oh my gawd there's 50 billion trillion microbes on that worksurface:eek: :eek: ' The homeowner looks ok to me! We need to build some resistance in our children. At 43 I have never had food poisoning (tempting fate there!) and I thank my mum for that.