Bacon germs

[miss_moose]

I have a realy bad OCD when it comes to raw meat, I can't watch my fiance cooking it as my ocd (or common sense!) gets really out of hand and i just do his head in.

Last night he forced me to watch him put pre chopped bacon in a pan, i protested alot because i knew it would make me worse and cause arguments but he thought it would help.
Needless to say it didnt, and he threadtend to walk out if i didnt shut up.

The thing is, he open the bacon tub, but he touched the underside of the lid (the bit that touches the raw bacon), then without washing his hands grabbed a wooden spoon and stirred the bacon while holding the pan.

Then he went to wash his hands, came back to the kitchen and again, picked up the pan and same wooden spoon to stir somemore.

Then, picked up a teatowel and wiped all the clean pots and put them away.

He says there's no problem because his hands were clean, but how can they be when he picked up stuff that he had used straight after doing the bacon?

I'm so worried and panicking loads, and if i wash up again he'll just go balistic and walk out.

But i'm realy worried about "bacon germs" (as i call them) making me sick because they'll be on the clean cuttlery, and then when i make my tuna sandwich for dinner they'll be mixed in with fish and cause food poisoning.

Am i woprrying over something thats not real, is he right?

[gaaron]

Oh dear. We both know that you aren't going to get ill because of germs. But rationality doesn't always work when we're feeling anxious.

I hope you're both feeling a little calmer now.

[Anxious_gal]

I dont think your overreacting at all!!!!
it's called cross contamination, i learned it in health class!
some people really are ignorant when it comes to meat, I'd be more concerned if it were chicken though......

on tv theres the ad where the woman touches chicken and touches surfaces and things without washing her hands and her kids get sick. all the surfaces she touched are colored green for effect.
I cannot watch my mother cook meat, it drives me mad!!
no one takes me seriously either......
I'm a vegetarian, I once got food poisoning from a salad!+

I also have friends who work in a tattoo shop, and they are very strict about cross contamination and keeping things clean, so it's nice to know it's not just me who thinks like this.

I was once in a dentisrt office with my mum, she getting fitted for new false teeth, I was watching the nurse, she had on white gloves, she emptied the trash can, and the went and took out all the sterilized dental equipment from the sterilizer contraption.
i called her out on it right in front of the dentist, I was honestly shocked that a nurse could actually empty out a bin, then using the same hands touch sterilized equipment!
I had to leave the room cause I was angry but also embarrassed for my out burst but I never for a second regretted saying what I said.

[miss_moose]

That's what i worry about, cross contamination. But whenever i say anything, i get yelled at for being "OCD" and a freak!.
I keep telling him it's common sense, not OCD. ANd just because i like him to wash his hands when he prepares food does not mean it's because of OCD, but he never does.

If i tell him other people on here agree with me he says that because they are all OCD too

[miss_moose]

I've just detolled the cutlery draw and going to start washing the cuttlery. When he gets back from work he's going to go balistic with me. I'm scared, feel like a naughty kid, but i've been so panicy all day about the contamination

[RLR]

Okay, I don't know what you've been told, but I'll share with you that bacteria is virtually everywhere and you can scrub to your heart's content and not be rid of it.

In fact, I'm constrained to point out that all raw meat inherently possesses a small amount of inert bacteria even when freshly purchased.

The practical side of food safety is that you thoroughly cleanse your cutting boards and utensils before storing them away. The key is to keep the temperature of the raw meat at a stable point when preparing it to avoid the potential for growth of the bacteria already present. Touching the lid or handling another utensil or item and touching the meat or spoon again is not the issue at all. It's the conditions under which the meat is being prepared, what relative temperature it reaches while exposed and over what period of time it remains exposed to the open environment. This generally applies to all foods and bacteria.

I will say that the use of a wooden spoon to prepare meat is actually more of an issue than anything to do with his preparation techinques. Wood is very porous and regardless of how they are cleaned, tend to hold micro-particles. It is a far greater chance of these spoons contaminating subsequent meals because they have been laying in the drawer and exposed to temperatures favorable to bacterial growth. It is fine to use them for salads and vegetables, but raw meat is generally not a good idea. The same holds true for wooden cutting boards.

Cross-contamination from a food preparation standpoint must involve circumstances wherein bacterial overgrowth is present and of a nature capable of inducing illness in humans. Merely touching other surfaces does not qualify as cross-contamination by any means whatsoever. As long as the kitchen is generally kept clean, and by your inferences I'm presuming yours is spotless, then general guidelines are sufficient to maintain a healthy food preparation environment.

So in sum, I will say here that while cleanliness is next to Godliness, your notions about transeference of harmful bacteria in food preparation would be considered entirely unwarranted based upon the steps your fiance exercised. Remember that exposure, temperature, time and the food product all must reach certain criteria before bacteria have the opportunity to flourish and produce illness. The steps taken by your description of the account would in no way constitute a risk.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[Anxious_gal]

I dont have OCD but I do worry about raw meat and bacteria and people not washing their hands and using wood or plastic chopping boards. Maybe if you print out some info on food safety , and having him read it might help.

[sarahmac]

This would drive me nuts!!!

My other half is very relaxed about cross contamination and I never trust when he cooks (especially on the BBQ)

He would touch raw meat with his hands then pick up a teatowel and it drives me absolutly crazy!!!!

When I pull him up on it he doesnt like it and accuses me of over reacting

[Groundhog]

Okay, I don't know what you've been told, but I'll share with you that bacteria is virtually everywhere and you can scrub to your heart's content and not be rid of it.

In fact, I'm constrained to point out that all raw meat inherently possesses a small amount of inert bacteria even when freshly purchased.

The practical side of food safety is that you thoroughly cleanse your cutting boards and utensils before storing them away. The key is to keep the temperature of the raw meat at a stable point when preparing it to avoid the potential for growth of the bacteria already present. Touching the lid or handling another utensil or item and touching the meat or spoon again is not the issue at all. It's the conditions under which the meat is being prepared, what relative temperature it reaches while exposed and over what period of time it remains exposed to the open environment. This generally applies to all foods and bacteria.

I will say that the use of a wooden spoon to prepare meat is actually more of an issue than anything to do with his preparation techinques. Wood is very porous and regardless of how they are cleaned, tend to hold micro-particles. It is a far greater chance of these spoons contaminating subsequent meals because they have been laying in the drawer and exposed to temperatures favorable to bacterial growth. It is fine to use them for salads and vegetables, but raw meat is generally not a good idea. The same holds true for wooden cutting boards.

Cross-contamination from a food preparation standpoint must involve circumstances wherein bacterial overgrowth is present and of a nature capable of inducing illness in humans. Merely touching other surfaces does not qualify as cross-contamination by any means whatsoever. As long as the kitchen is generally kept clean, and by your inferences I'm presuming yours is spotless, then general guidelines are sufficient to maintain a healthy food preparation environment.

So in sum, I will say here that while cleanliness is next to Godliness, your notions about transeference of harmful bacteria in food preparation would be considered entirely unwarranted based upon the steps your fiance exercised. Remember that exposure, temperature, time and the food product all must reach certain criteria before bacteria have the opportunity to flourish and produce illness. The steps taken by your description of the account would in no way constitute a risk.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

Yep couldn’t agree more, and so eloquently put.
I don’t suffer from OCD so I realise it’s easier said than done but I honestly think we are to clean these days. My niece is absolutely obsessed with cleanliness and her children are permanently ill with colds, stomach bugs or one thing and another.

Recently I read an article about a guy who was preparing to go and live with a rain forest tribe for a few months and as part of his ordeal he would have to eat all sorts of rancid meat and bugs. To prepare for this he put aside all aspects of personal hygiene and food preparation and gradually introduced food with an ever longer passed sell by date to a point where it was believed he was eating food stuff that could not even be given to animals. Yes he had a few stomach problems on the way but gradually he became immune to it and spent the many months in the forest eating things not printable here with no side effects at all.

We need germs and filth to build up an immune system, yes one needs to exercise some common sense but your are likely to make yourself more ill by being over clean than accepting the odd hygiene faux pas.

[blueangel]

I agree with Groundhog! Unfortunately, I think that we are getting to the stage where we don't actually challenge our immune systems enough, which is why there are so many bugs about. My mother didn't even have a fridge in the house until I was 11 (although it was a pretty cold house) and I can only ever remember getting one bad stomach bug, and that must have been Norovirus as it was going round at school.