Why are people frightened of food ?

iwanttosave_2

I had to do 100 lines at school when I got caught licking the bowl after making a cake

"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"

Thats the best bit of making a cake

the_optimist

iwanttosave wrote:

I had to do 100 lines at school when I got caught licking the bowl after making a cake

"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"
"I must not eat raw egg mixture"

Thats the best bit of making a cake

Quite right! My mum used to bake and I licked the bowl :bdaycake:
... and I'm still alive :wave:

stevenshell

This has been a really interesting thread to read through, and there have been some great points raised, and some funny stories to boot!

As it happens we ate custard last night that was past the time to use it according on the packet - it said open and refridgerate and use within 3 days - or something to that effect. I opened it last Friday, smelt it, and tasted it - tasted fine, so we ate it - we've not been sick yet!

As for my background, I'm 30, I grew up in pubs/restaurants - not some wino kid, my dad was a publican , so have always been around food/drink and the hygiene that does go with it. I also done an A Level in Home Economics (for which the whole class of 6 :rotfl: got an E :rotfl: I think because our teacher just dictated from the fondly named "beef book" as it had a pic of a beef carcass on the front. To be honest, I really don't remember learning much about hygiene for that A Level!! (no wonder I got an E :rolleyes: ) But it was in 1995, and my memory has faded since then!
I have also worked in kitchens, and have needed to have a food hygiene certificate for that, so learnt all about cross-contamination and all the nasty bugs you can get from bacteria etc etc.

Onto my everyday life, I wipe down the counters every few days with Mr Muscle, sometimes with just hot water and WUL. I am extra careful with poultry and pork, and sausages are the worst for me - I tend to cremate them!, but not so much with beef and lamb which I'll quite happily eat medium rare! Due to my upbringing and training I tend to keep cooked meat above raw meat, but if it is in a covered container, I'm not so strict - it's not like the container is dripping blood everywhere! I've dropped things on the floor, picked them up, dusted them off and put them in the pain - I'm of the school that "a little bit of dirt does you good!" I'll never forget I'd spent about an hour lovingly preparing a big bowl of exotic fruit salad for a party, and opened the fridge, only for it to fall on the floor :eek: I was damned if I was gonna let all that money on fruit go to waste!!! I scooped the lot up and washed it off - we were all fine!!


I don't always wash my hands before preparing dinner - unless I've been doing a grimy job like the gardening, but I'm careful to tie my hair up and not touch my nose, mouth etc when cooking as I just think it's gross! My biggest bug bear is seeing the telly chef with their long tressles floating about all the food their preparing - nasty - esp that posh bird - Tamsin Day Lewis? winds me up lol. Or seeing the chefs wipe their face etc and then carry on cooking - then they harp on about cross-contamination of raw/cooked meats and wipe boards down - hypocrites!!

Basically I use my common sense (not everyone has it when it comes to food - my OH for one :rotfl: - I've seen him drink out of date milk that was so out of date it was moving - he didn't realise it was off - :eek: he has much to learn after being a batchelor for so long!)
I wash my hands, I smell food and look at it to judge if it is rank or not, I heat food thoroughly because I know it kills the bugs, I don't refreeze stuff that's been defrosted, I use eggs past their stamped date - what did we all do before they put a date on?! If bread has mould on it, I throw away that slice, but if the rest of the loaf is fine, I use it, ditto on cheese/fruit.
never had a can long enough to be out of date, but I don't think I'd risk it - botulism and all that!!

As for making us paranoid about germs, i do wholeheartedly agree with that. I also think it's the reason why kids are more sickly because their immune system don't have a chance to develop - killing all these bugs like a woman on a mission stops this from happening. Oh the irony in that one!

Anyways, I think that's me done lol, sorry for the really long post - got on a roll there!!!

Gryfon

I think it's a common sense thing. I was my hands before preparing food and after handling raw meat/fish etc. Cut on clean chopping boards...but if some food falls onto the work surface whilst I'm putting it in the pan I just throw it in! Though if it falls on the floor it needs a quick wash to get the dust and dog hairs off first :rofl:

As for out of date food I do throw yoghurts as tasting off yoghurts are rank and half the time I'm never quite sure if they are off or not Most things like cream, meat etc goes for the smell and sight taste!

Gryfon

I think it's a common sense thing. I was my hands before preparing food and after handling raw meat/fish etc. Cut on clean chopping boards...but if some food falls onto the work surface whilst I'm putting it in the pan I just throw it in! Though if it falls on the floor it needs a quick wash to get the dust and dog hairs off first :rofl:

As for out of date food I do throw yoghurts as tasting off yoghurts are rank and half the time I'm never quite sure if they are off or not Most things like cream, meat etc goes for the smell and sight taste!

tawnyowls

the_optimist wrote:

Quite right! My mum used to bake and I licked the bowl :bdaycake:
... and I'm still alive :wave:

Absolutely - the only problem is I have to fight the OH for control of the bowl!

One of my ex-colleagues used to have us fighting over a particular chocolate mousse that was his party piece. We got to talking about that one day and another colleague (male*) was wittering on about the dangers of licking the cake bowl. His face was a picture when the mousse-maker pointed out that the mousse, which he had just had a massive bowlful of a few days earlier was actually made with raw eggs!


*All the women knew about it as the guy who made the cake was very punctilious about warning the women, in case any were pregnant, but hadn't thought to mention it to the blokes

stevenshell wrote:

As for making us paranoid about germs, i do wholeheartedly agree with that. I also think it's the reason why kids are more sickly because their immune system don't have a chance to develop - killing all these bugs like a woman on a mission stops this from happening. Oh the irony in that one!

In fact, a lot of doctors think it's even worse than that, and that the rise in asthma, eczema and autoimmune diseases could be down to the fact that because the immune system doesn't have enough work to do (devil making work and all that), it turns on the body and starts attacking anything slightly 'foreign' (eg food) or even the body's own systems, thus resulting in conditions far worse than the odd icky tummy.

aurorahelios

Blairweech wrote:

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!!

My 3yo DD is like that, she will only eat the crusts off fresh toast or bread, leaves the rest for a few hours then eats the rest. She even eats the the bits of BM bread which have become so hard I can't even tear em up.

I also remember finding her at about 1yo scooping out of the kitchen bin her uneaten ready brek from earlier in the morning - She was fine after it but I have to admit I found it pretty stomach turning.

Aril

I follow the middle road with this [but then that's me all over] I always decant the contents of a tin into another container before putting in the fridge. All pate is eaten within date. I never put hot or warmish food in the fridge. All meat is frozen immediately unless I'm sure that I'm using it the next day [this allows me to answer the call of the takeaway without wasting anything] I am very careful to check that all meat is cooked properly. All fruit and veg is washed. I don't put cooked and uncooked meat anywhere near one another and all leftovers are frozen same day once they're cool. I have a bottle of antibac which I keep for occasions like when the cat missed her tray and weed on the lino this morning but the surfaces in the kitchen are wiped down with diluted stardrops after every meal. However, I'm not obsessive because IMO you need some exposure to germs....we are all disgustingly hale and hearty and never had food poisoning touch wood although I would say I tend to eat veggie meals when I go out to a restaurant.
Aril

nicki_2

I didn't do home ec at school as such, I stopped "studying" food when I was in 3rd years seniors. Only thing I remember about my lessons is that "Tables are for crumbs not bums" as my teacher use to shout across the classroom when she saw us sitting on the table :rotfl:

I wash my hands after handling raw meat. I wash the chopping boards down after using them (need to buy new ones though as they smell of mouldy cheese all of a sudden ). I can have a pan of stew on the hob for 5 days adding to it each day, although only on the last day will I add rice;)

A couple of years back my DD (then nearly 4) got a dose of gastroenteritise (sp?) and missed almost an entire term of school as she was so ill We suspect that dried Oxtail soup from Asda doesn't agree with her. The only thing I've changed of my habits since then is that I no longer buy packet soups and tend not to give her beef thats been standing out all day or cooked meat sandwiches. I am cautious of yoghurts and milk but we've all survived...the only bugs here are ones that are brought home from schools Best before dates are taken note off and I just do my best to use the item up before the date, if I don't and its been open a while (like mustard powder which had been open 6months) then I'll throw it out just to be on the safe side. I'd rather spend a few extra pence on buying a fresh tub than spend another 3 months with a sick daughter!

As for bleaching/disentecting everything, I use stardrops to wash my worktops etc down. I've even used the washing up water AFTER washing the dishes in it (but not if it's really dirty or oily/greasy) and I've not had any problems yet My philosophy is you'll eat worse than muck before you die so you might as well build up an immune system.

BTW, my daughter hasn't had a stomach bug (except ones that were going around her class) or other illness causing her to miss school since :j She even goes to school with a sore throat

bride2be2006

the_optimist wrote:

Quite right! My mum used to bake and I licked the bowl :bdaycake:
... and I'm still alive :wave:

My friends mum used to bake nearly every day (she was a stay at home mum) and we used to loiter to lick the bowl all the time - YUMMY!

Having said that I do worry when my daughter wants to do the same (on I am ashamed to say the rare times I bake!)