Using a towel instead of water and soap

[kib]

... I have to admit, my need to rinse and wipe is purely an ocd thing, I don't like gunk on my hands. I actually pride myself on my ability to overcome germs, I seem to be able to eat just about anything.

I read something heartening the other day. I've always liked raw eggs in certain things like shakes, such an easy protein boost. but eeek aaaak and so on. What I read is, assuming typical modern practices of production and refrigeration, if you ate a raw egg every day, on average you'd get food poisoning once every 54 years. Since i don't have 54 years left I'm thinking my chances of avoiding this are pretty good.

[Tiam]

... I have to admit, my need to rinse and wipe is purely an ocd thing, I don't like gunk on my hands. I actually pride myself on my ability to overcome germs, I seem to be able to eat just about anything.

I read something heartening the other day. I've always liked raw eggs in certain things like shakes, such an easy protein boost. but eeek aaaak and so on. What I read is, assuming typical modern practices of production and refrigeration, if you ate a raw egg every day, on average you'd get food poisoning once every 54 years. Since i don't have 54 years left I'm thinking my chances of avoiding this are pretty good.

I usually wash all the kitchen towels. cloths, sponges and what not once a week. I do use paper towels, so those get used too; especially for my hands or spills But for the cloth items, I go through the clean ones as they are usesd. But if I had one new towel, cloth, sponge each day and used that throughout the day, I wouldn't consider that a "filthy" item.

[Teacher Terry]

I wash my hands constantly while cooking but agree that with TV shows it is not feasible.

[Tiam]

What you, and many others, may not realize is that our ancestors didn't have to contend with the same bacteria we have today. It didn't exist. The bacteria that has developed in the last 20-30 years is stronger and more deadly than ever before. This is one of the reasons "science" has developed new standards for home canning and food safety standards, and some of the old methods are unsafe to use.

You are also incorrect to assert food safety wasn't a problem years ago. It was one of the chief causes of death in babies and young children. You know - all those people who didn't grow up to be parents, grandparents, etc. Refrigeration alone changed this issue.

Our ancestors would become sick from bacteria toxins in food, but they would generally recover if they were healthy. You know, that fried chicken made for lunch on Sunday, let set out on the table where 6- or 7-hours later, after sitting in a sweltering hot room without air conditioning all day, was eaten for supper. Enough time for any bacteria, under the right conditions, to become a toxin. The family had the "flu" the next day, or they called it the "trots", "green apple two-step" or "Hershey squirts".... That was probably food poisoning. Today, people have all kinds of immune problems, health-altering conditions like diabetes, as well as being the most medicated people in the world, which interferes with our health and immunity. These new and stronger bacteria tend to be more deadly to anyone who already has illnesses they are dealing with, are on medication, or the very young and elderly. Plus, modern medical care can help in the treatment. Treatment the Sunday Fried Chicken Family didn't seek.

On top of that, as a people, our immune systems are also much lower, as much as 25% lower, than they were 20-25 years ago. Children don't get to play in the dirt or play with domestic farm animals anymore - is just one reason why. We don't get an opportunity to develop antibodies against common bacteria.

It also takes the "right" conditions for a deadly bacteria to develop into a toxin. A "nasty" kitchen towel probably won't be the place it develops, it's the place where the bacteria is spread from. It's the potato you wiped with the "nasty" kitchen towel, baked in foil, then set out for a long time at room temperature or in a refrigerator that is warmer than 40°F, and the bacteria develops into a toxin in the foil-wrapped potato where the conditions are "right". It's the toxin that is the problem, not the bacteria. We eat bacteria all the time, and for the most part they are destroyed in our acidic stomachs. New research leads to new guidelines for food handling. New organisms that cause illness are discovered, and new handling procedures or other interventions are developed to destroy them.

Most people are unaware of the difference between the bacteria and the toxin. It's not the Salmonella that's the issue, it's the disease Salmonellosis from the toxin of the bacteria. It's not the Listeria Monocytogenes, it's the Listeriosis - etc. It takes special conditions for the bacteria to develop into the toxin.

Just to be clear: I never asserted that there were no food safety issues in the past. That would be a construct on your part. Maybe there is a different expectation here on some posters parts that I'm not seeing. Without knowing what that expectation is, I can't comment further, other to than note I myself rarely get ill and I work with a high transmission population. A little kitchen safety goes a long way, that's for certain.

[SteveinMN]

Gosh. No, I don't feel a need to wash my hands every few minutes when cooking. Just raw meats. That's about it. I never get sick. I'm fairly sure our parents and grandparents and grand grand grand ancestors didn't either.

And hot peppers, because the oils can transfer and irritate skin unless it's washed off with soap and water. Otherwise your practice is mine as well.

We do have two towels and two sponges in the kitchen at all times. One towel is for drying utensils and rinsed produce it they cannot be air-dried; the other towel is for hands. One sponge is used to wash dishes; the other to clean counters. Both hit the microwave after cooking sessions to kill germs.

[Tiam]

And hot peppers, because the oils can transfer and irritate skin unless it's washed off with soap and water. Otherwise your practice is mine as well.

We do have two towels and two sponges in the kitchen at all times. One towel is for drying utensils and rinsed produce it they cannot be air-dried; the other towel is for hands. One sponge is used to wash dishes; the other to clean counters. Both hit the microwave after cooking sessions to kill germs.

LOL on the hot chili peppers. I usually forget and touch my eyes before washing them. But I've actually developed a pretty high tolerance for that sort of thing.

On average, I think I wash my hands more away from home than at home, meaning the sheer number of washes is higher. So at home, maybe I wash my hands 6 or 7 times a day, while at work it could be 10 to 15.