Are we too clean?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Increased hygiene and a lack of exposure to various microorganisms may be affecting the immune systems of many populations.

That's the essence of the "hygiene hypothesis," a fairly new school of thought that argues that rising incidence of asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and perhaps several other diseases may be, at least in part, the result of lifestyle and environmental changes that have made us too "clean" for our own good.

The reason I have brought this up is because new hygiene regulations have been introduced at my work. If you were working on the cheese or cooked meats deli counters, you used to wear plastic gloves because they are un-hygienic. Now, the powers that be, have told not wear gloves unless we are asked to by a customer. However, we aren't allowed to touch food with our bear hands, so how do we serve customers if we can't touch the food?

You may think that it can't be that difficult, just use to hold a piece of grease proof paper or something to pick up cheese. But you will only find out how difficult that is if you work there every day. You need to touch food. Whether it is to cut a piece of cheese the size of the customers request or to slice meat.

But what is the worst that can happen if we touch food that others will eat? Will they die or catch all of my diseases? It's not like we don't wash our hands regularly.

As Aurthur Smith once said
"The problem with kids these days, is that they don't eat enough dog crap."

[Drew]

Sod it, just wear the gloves. Although, that probably explains why I don't have a job :p :

I once swollowed a 2p piece, I have no idea how I managed to, but it never did me any harm :p :

[BDunnell]

My former flatmate, who was (is) a scientist and knows far more about this sort of thing than I do, agrees with the view that we ought to, for example, eat more stuff that we drop on the floor — within reason — for this very reason.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

My former flatmate, who was (is) a scientist and knows far more about this sort of thing than I do, agrees with the view that we ought to, for example, eat more stuff that we drop on the floor — within reason — for this very reason.

So it's ok to serve customers food that we dropped on the floor? :D

[BDunnell]

So it's ok to serve customers food that we dropped on the floor? :D

I did say 'within reason'!

I don't think that would be appropriate, but eating a piece of toast that has been dropped on your kitchen floor, so long as it's not covered in crap, is likely to be OK. As I said, I'm only going by what my friend says, but his view certainly backs up what you posted.

[Erki]

So it's ok to serve customers food that we dropped on the floor? :D

I've seen it done. :) (I have worked in food industry too - feeds well and you can see some interesting things :p )

I have even eaten stuff that has been dropped on the dirt ground. And after all, I've eaten fresh carrots uprooted from dirt and washed with minimal water and also eaten fresh strawberries that have been slightly dirty too... And I'm still alive, and I haven't vomited once in the past 4 years. :)

[AndySpeed]

My former flatmate, who was (is) a scientist and knows far more about this sort of thing than I do, agrees with the view that we ought to, for example, eat more stuff that we drop on the floor — within reason — for this very reason.

Hehe that's why the 5 second rule exists - if it wasn't on the floor for five or more seconds then it didn't happen!

Although obviously there are exceptions to that too...

I also don't mind a bit of grass in my BBQ's...

[BeansBeansBeans]

The whole nation seems to be in the grip of an OCD epidemic. It's almost become a national sport. People like Kim and Aggie and Anthea Turner have a lot to answer for. It's bad to live in squalor, but a bit of mess and dirt here and there never hurt anyone.

[Drew]

Hehe that's why the 5 second rule exists - if it wasn't on the floor for five or more seconds then it didn't happen!

Although obviously there are exceptions to that too...

I also don't mind a bit of grass in my BBQ's...

I've always used the 10 second rule, maybe I'm just hungrier :p :

[tinchote]

I've always used the 10 second rule, maybe I'm just hungrier :p :

At home with the girls it's more likely the "one and minute or even more as long as nobody stepped on it" rule ;) :p :

[Rollo]

http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/05/03/germ_warfare/print.html

I'm looking for the links for this that suggest that Japanese children live such sanitised lives that a government official suggested trips into the country so that the could get dirty.

Actually the 5 second rule is bunk. Surface contamination is virtually instantaneous. Things simply do not have a magic aura around them.
Sorry.

[tinchote]

http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/05/03/germ_warfare/print.html



That theory is very reasonable. And it's probably the only explanation as to why there is a higher rate of allergies in the developed world.

[millencolin]

theres a show here called 'whats good for you' and they tested the 10 second rule

your food is perfectly safe and disease free if its only been on the ground for 10 seconds or less

long live the ten second rule

[Mark in Oshawa]

What it boils down to is this: if we are exposed to no germs, our immunities start to weaken. IF we are exposed to too much, it of course, can overpower us and make us ill. I think a lot of the hygiene regs are overkill, and they are more for appearance sake than real scientific reasons. If it is only "dirt" and not some dangerous bacteria, it is only for appareance reasons you wouldn't want to serve someone something that hit the floor, 5 second rule or not.

Personally, as a kid I probably ingested more dirt than an earth worm for I was always out in the dirt, and just filthy half the time. I needed that daily bath.....and I have been healthy all my life. Most women I know, they are clean freaks and usually were as kids, and most of them are always fighting off some bug, so take that for what it is worth...

[oily oaf]

The whole nation seems to be in the grip of an OCD epidemic. It's almost become a national sport. People like Kim and Aggie and Anthea Turner have a lot to answer for. It's bad to live in squalor, but a bit of mess and dirt here and there never hurt anyone.

I've got that OCD! :(
Every Friday lunchtime I obsessively go down the pub and guzzle large quantities of fizzy lager before going back to the workshop and falling asleep in a customer's motor whilst pretending to adjust the handbrake.
Please help me as I'm at the end of my tether.
On second thoughts don't worry as I'm determined to overcome my disorder using nothing more than raw will power and steely determination.
I will get through this somehow and come out the other side a new and infinitely better human being......................................possibl y :beer:

[oily oaf]

At home with the girls it's more likely the "one and minute or even more as long as nobody stepped on it" rule ;) :p :

:rotflmao: You are quite clearly a doting and health concious father after my own heart mate.
When my twins were toddlers they delighted in wiping their sticky jam sandwiches all over the carpet and the dog before joyously chomping on the resultant hair encrusted crud.
Happily they both grew into fine healthy young adults and regularly beat me to a bloody pulp at weekends and on public holidays.
Well the girl twin does. The boy likes to stand back laughing and pointing. :(

[Daniel]

Happily they both grew into fine healthy young adults and regularly beat me to a bloody pulp at weekends and on public holidays.
Well the girl twin does. The boy likes to stand back laughing and pointing. :(

Surely if you had brought these children up right at least your son would get his phone out for a bit of happy slapping action and then post the video on Youtube :rolleyes:

[tinchote]

:rotflmao: You are quite clearly a doting and health concious father after my own heart mate.
When my twins were toddlers they delighted in wiping their sticky jam sandwiches all over the carpet and the dog before joyously chomping on the resultant hair encrusted crud.
Happily they both grew into fine healthy young adults and regularly beat me to a bloody pulp at weekends and on public holidays.
Well the girl twin does. The boy likes to stand back laughing and pointing. :(

:rotflmao:

[BDunnell]

What it boils down to is this: if we are exposed to no germs, our immunities start to weaken. IF we are exposed to too much, it of course, can overpower us and make us ill. I think a lot of the hygiene regs are overkill, and they are more for appearance sake than real scientific reasons. If it is only "dirt" and not some dangerous bacteria, it is only for appareance reasons you wouldn't want to serve someone something that hit the floor, 5 second rule or not.

I agree. You can understand why this is, but it is largely unnecessary and often counter-productive.

[LotusElise]

When you think about it logically, there are more harmful substances in things like bleach than in ordinary household dust.
You can't sell dust though...

[slinkster]

My great grandma always used to say " you have to eat a pound of muck before you die" ... I just hope she didn't mean all at once.

[Erki]

Think - the cash you use in shops and supermarkets and what not has been circulating everywhere, too. And many times I don't wash my hands between handing over/getting handed over the cash and eating some thing like ice cream. What if that cash I just touched was just minutes ago touched by some old dirty git with some sort of infection? Hmmm... I wanna go and eat some ice cream. :lips:

[BDunnell]

My great grandma always used to say " you have to eat a pound of muck before you die" ... I just hope she didn't mean all at once.

Did she mean that you have to eat a pound of muck in order to die, or that it's something you just have to experience in your lifetime? ;)

[schmenke]

...I once swollowed a 2p piece, I have no idea how I managed to, but it never did me any harm :p :

How did you feel? Any change?

[oily oaf]

Surely if you had brought these children up right at least your son would get his phone out for a bit of happy slapping action and then post the video on Youtube :rolleyes:

In point of fact they tried that Daniel.
Fortunately my benefactors at Help The Aged came to the fore and named and shamed the teeny scum in their monthly periodical The Grunter.
Which was nice :)

[Loobylou]

A friend is proof of this theory. She had asthma as a child, her mum is a nurse so made sure that the house was always super spotless, hoovered everyday, bleached everything to within an inch of it's life as it were.

Louise moves in with her boyfriend, his brother & their lodger (big house) & is ill for months on end. No surprise, the 'boys' weren't exactly clean freaks & bleach was an alien concept so the house was humming with bacteria (at least compared to her mums place). Her asthma did get worse, but then started to improve as her immune system picked up.

[jso1985]

surely being exposed to "regular" dirt is healthy for the inmune system but be sure to not be around highly contaminated dirt
... at least not being allowed to play in the garden area where the cat and the dog pooped and the where the bin was is the thing I think that kept me from getting Cholera, pin worms or Amebian dysentherya wich are very common in this country

[luvracin]

I've always used the 10 second rule, maybe I'm just hungrier :p :

If you're hungrier than Andy(who uses the 5 second rule), then wouldn't your rule be "less than 5 seconds" as opposed to 10 seconds? :p :

[Erki]

If you're hungrier than Andy(who uses the 5 second rule), then wouldn't your rule be "less than 5 seconds" as opposed to 10 seconds? :p :

No. Wat Drew meant is that he would eat a century-old potato chip too if he found one. ;)