Cleanliness in the UK and the US

This subject has been kicked around in here but related to other subjects.
I hope the subject is not taboo for this forum?

My observation that I remember is being in a bakery in the UK (my reason for going to the UK ) and seeing all these wasps both dead and alive swarming in the case with the pastries. The shop assistant behind the counter didn't seem to think anything of it. Did I say "that is a health code violation"? I don't think so.

I was in a place on Saturday, here in the US, and the guy behind the counter handling bulk food, had a white cover on his hair and on his beard and he looked like a "right Charley"

Oh yes, the beard hairnet.  I love those - it's a seriously hot look!   

I don't notice a difference in hygeine standards.  Some places are disgusting in the UK, some places are disgusting in the US.  It depends on the businesses own priorities when it comes to cleanliness.  I do resent the idea that the UK is dirty (and full of lice apparently?!) because I am a clean freak and don't notice much of a difference between the two places.

I don't notice a difference in hygeine standards.  Some places are disgusting in the UK, some places are disgusting in the US.  It depends on the businesses own priorities when it comes to cleanliness.  I do resent the idea that the UK is dirty (and full of lice apparently?!) because I am a clean freak and don't notice much of a difference between the two places.

Hear hear. This is me too, to a "T", every single word you said.

I've noticed both high standards and terrible standards in both countries. And LICE in BOTH countries, one no worse than the other!!!! I don't have kids but I've friends who do, and I've come to understand -- again in both countries -- that lice is a "school outbreak" perpetuated kind of thing and unfortunately par for the course in any family with kids, at some point or another.

Sorry for all the edits, I am typo city right now...

I do resent the idea that the UK is dirty (and full of lice apparently?!)

Me too. There are clean people and dirty people in both the UK and the US.

I agree and I hope I didn't indicate otherwise.

One of the advantages of cooking at home is you maybe able kill some bacteria on the food.

On another thread it was said that if you were so picky about the handling of Muffins etc you should not eat in a restaurant.

I remember one of the Beatles saying when they worked making sandwiches they would spit in them if they didn't like the customer. A cop sued a company because he was able to prove an employee had tampered with his order of food. He won.

On another thread it was said that if you were so picky about the handling of Muffins etc you should not eat in a restaurant.

I think you're talking about my post, but that's not exactly what I said. I just said that for me, it's best not to think too much about how my food is being handled - whether it's a restaurant meal or croissant in the supermarket.

I agree and I hope I didn't indicate otherwise.

One of the advantages of cooking at home is you maybe able kill some bacteria on the food.

On another thread it was said that if you were so picky about the handling of Muffins etc you should not eat in a restaurant.

I remember one of the Beatles saying when they worked making sandwiches they would spit in them if they didn't like the customer. A cop sued a company because he was able to prove an employee had tampered with his order of food. He won.

It's not just those naughty Beatles who got up to this kind of thing -- in my time living in the US I would hear all the time about how you must be nice to the staff at the ordering window or somebody will spit in your burger!  Yet another global hazzard found in any place you might go.

And LICE in BOTH countries, one no worse than the other!!!!

Thank you! I grew up in the US and remember my classes having our heads checked for lice by the school nurse on a regular basis. I found this online:

Head lice affect an estimated 12 million people annually in the U.S. The vast majority of these are school-aged children, particularly children ages 5 to 10. Head lice infect children of all backgrounds regardless of care given to personal hygiene. Head lice are primarily transmitted through direct head-to- head contact, but objects such as combs and hats also may contribute to transmission. Recent research has suggested head lice have become resistant to some of the more popular treatments available over-the- counter. This condition may be contributing to the increased number of head lice cases.

As for general hygiene, I've never noticed a countrywide difference, but a place by place difference. I once went to a Wendy's in Ohio and there was a fly in the mayo of my burger. They replaced it and that one also had a fly. Turns out the kitchen area had a bunch of flies around and several had died in the mayo- nobody had noticed, even at the point of putting in on a sandwich! I've also seen food preparers in the US wearing gloves, how hygienic... except when you realise that they just took your money with the gloved hand, and didn't change the glove before going on to the next sandwich. Conversely, I've seen people in the UK with one gloved hand and one non-gloved, and it was only the gloved hand that touched the food, while the other was only on knife handles, money, etc., which seems a lot more reasonable.

Anyway, the obsession with complete cleanliness is most likely the reason the US has one of the highest rates of asthma and allergy in the world!

Anyway, the obsession with complete cleanliness is most likely the reason the US has one of the highest rates of asthma and allergy in the world!

Thank you for this, too! I happen to believe that whoever we are in whichever country, there needs to be balance.....and if you go too far in the other direction of never allowing children or indeed oneself to be exposed to the very bugs that will help develop the immune system against these things to begin with, you wind up with a lot of people who can't cope when exposed. I say this not just about the US but anywhere that we are becoming too obsessed.

We ate at a restaurant in Bath and we had ordered salads and when we were eating them we noticed these small green flies on the lettuce. We called it to their attention and they replaced the order. The new order had the same problem. Returned that order also and canceled the order. What was also interesting is the the name of the restaurant. It was called "The Great American Disaster". I wonder if they are still around?

Anyway, the obsession with complete cleanliness is most likely the reason the US has one of the highest rates of asthma and allergy in the world!

I agree with this, too. I never understand why people go around spraying disinfectant on everything. We need a little dirt! 

We ate at a restaurant in Bath and we had ordered salads and when we were eating them we noticed these small green flies on the lettuce. We called it to their attention and they replaced the order. The new order had the same problem. Returned that order also and canceled the order. What was also interesting is the the name of the restaurant. It was called "The Great American Disaster". I wonder if they are still around?

Hope they didn't charge you for those salads!!

I spent a day working in the kitchen of a very nice cafe here in the UK and they didn't wash their vegetables before using them, which really bothered me, but then being from California where you can watch crop dusters pouring chemicals on growing veggies did make me forever paranoid about what might be on my produce.  Not sure about the pesticide thing here though.

I'm with you guys on the lice thing.  I remember in elementary school they'd line up the kids, class, by class, and have the nurse do a lice check.  I've never known anyone that didn't have it as a kid (as far as I know).  It's almost like a rite of passage, like chicken pox

I agree with this, too. I never understand why people go around spraying disinfectant on everything. We need a little dirt! 

I agree. My mother was immaculately careful in the kitchen and in keeping the bathroom clean -- but if there were a few cobwebs and dust settled in the guest bedroom and I as a little kid was crawling around in there, examining dead carpet bugs (!!!!) her attitude was "It won't kill anybody." And it never did; like I say, don't get me wrong, my mother was not a slob, she was perfectly clean in the kitchen and in anything else that really mattered, but in general I was allowed to be exposed to all kinds of dust, dirt, garden muck, animal dander from babyhood -- I have no allergies at all and never have.