Why are people frightened of food ?

carolt

Probably the grossest cooking experience I've ever seen was at a school home economics lesson, where a supply teacher with a STREAMING cold helped us prepare scotch eggs, liberally sprinkled with her ever-running nasal fluids. After watching her sneeze :eek: into the food for the umpteenth time, curiously I had no appetite for the finished eggs (and have never been able to look at a scotch egg since, either). I'm 35 by the way.

tallulah_beaulah

hollydays wrote:

Interesting thread.I always have to laugh at the adverts designed to terrify neurotics with kids-you know the sort of thing,aiming to sell cleaning products. Its exploiting parents fears.

You are so right. I think a lot of advertisers pray on parental guilt. I never really cooked meat (thought it was too expensive) until I was a wife and mother. It was when I was weaning my son that I really lost it with food phobia.

One day my own mum dropped round while I was preparing chicken and she pointed out I'd gone crazy: I wore disposable latex gloves while handling the raw meat (i'm not joking!), I covered everything the meat had touched in bleach - utensils, chopping board, the surface under the chopping board. Then I had a bucket of diluted bleach near by for the dish cloth and tea towel to go into once I'd done the washing up!

All I could think while preparing meat was "if I poison my baby someone will come and take him away and I'll go to prison". Talk about brain washed by the media!

I'm a lot more relaxed about meat now, and my son is still alive and healthy (lol!).

tomstickland

After watching her sneeze into the food for the umpteenth time, curiously I had no appetite for the finished eggs (and have never been able to look at a scotch egg since, either). I'm 35 by the way.

LOL. After the "filling the sleeping bag with sloppy poop" post this has made me laugh a lot.

Churchmouse

I have to agree ( I think!!) with thriftlady, there seems to be a total fear of food preparation and storage! I think I'm a very hygenic person, but i do think a hefty dose of realism needs injecting into this thread! The world has managed to get to the 21st century with the rather primitive knowledge so far! Yes, wash your hands, yes clean food preparation surfaces, yes store food at low temperatures, but for goodness sakes remember mankind has survived millions of years without the benefit of superhuman culinary expertise!!! We really are in danger of not only throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but everything else as well!! Chill a bit, mankind has survived this far, we surely will survive a little bit further!!!!

Littlebean_2

I've really enjoyed reading this thread - definately made me feel as though I'm not alone though. It has been mentioned earlier by Talluah Beaulah but I definately found the same thing when I became a mum. I brought DS1 home from hospital (he was born prem) and I suddenly turned into a cleaning demon. I bought loads of antibacterial wipes, sprays etc - you name it, I bought it. Most of them are still under my sink! When my hormones righted themselves I realised that babies have survived worse things than a slightly dirty kitchen floor and calmed down on the cleaning front. Most things I've found can be tackled with hot water and beloved Stardrops and/or white vinegar. Anyway, all my early hygiene is now in vain - busy with DS2 I turned round to find DS1 merrily eating the cat's biscuits LOL!

tawnyowls

Reya wrote:

Basically, washing your hands properly (and I mean a good 10-20 second rub all over with soap, between your fingers and under your fingernails) after going to the loo, petting the dog/cat/budgie, changing nappies, handling raw meat, taking out the rubbish, etc etc is one of the simplest ways to prevent food contamination.

Which people never do! The no-water alcohol gels are very useful for making sure hands are properly clean - I carry a small bottle in my bag all the time, as the sinks in some public loos look dirtier than the actual bowls!

newleaf

Mr newleaf is regularly horrified by my insistence on using things he would have binned weeks ago!
Not long after we met I wrestled a 'past it's date' yoghurt from his grasp, just before it hit the bin, with the statement 'Yoghurt doesn't go off, it just gets more yoghurty...' Something he has never let me forget

superdog_3

As someone has said somewhere way back in this thread, the problems with foodproduction are probably worse than anything anyone can do in their own home.
I have the sniff test in our house but my OH is paranoid about best before dates. I will happily rescue food that has fallen on the floor but he throws it away. Just as well he hasnt seen our 18 month old sharing his toast with the dog!

Blairweech

When I was a kid, I had a penchant for stale toast, which I didn't just fish out of the kitchen bin - but the outside bin. My brother also enjoyed eating garden worms. I'm pleased to tell you, neither of us have ever had food poisoning, but I think that may just be the luck of the draw!!

I remember an advert for Domestos where the mother sprays her baby's highchair whilst he's eating a biscuit, claiming it was 'that safe to use'. Right, so it's much safer to spray cleaning chemicals in the direct vicinity of a baby than it is to live with biscuit 'germs'????

I think someone on here said the other day about how people throw away food that's been on the floor for a few seconds, yet they let their kids crawl round on the floor without worry?

I am also of the 'it if looks alright and smells alright' school of thought. It's surprising - I work in a kitchen, but I don't practise 'catering hygiene' as it were i.e I don't label my food, I don't religiously throw things out when their date expires etc. Everything's ok here!

Pandora123_2

newleaf wrote:

Not long after we met I wrestled a 'past it's date' yoghurt from his grasp, just before it hit the bin, with the statement 'Yoghurt doesn't go off, it just gets more yoghurty...' Something he has never let me forget

Hahahahahaha!!! :rotfl: