Cleanliness in the UK and the US

Same in my house.  There is clean, and there is paranoid. 

And I never clean fruit or veg before eating it. 


Vicky

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 agree.

My ex used to a be a sous chef, and she can tell you that the UK does not have a monopoly on filthy kitchens.

Regarding lice, when my sister was a little girl in the US in the 1960s or early 1970s, her class in school had a lice epidemic. I know because of the story about my mother vacuuming her head to attempt to get any hidden lice out.

And I never clean fruit or veg before eating it. 

I do wash my fruit & veg before eating it. Is that paranoid? 

And I never clean fruit or veg before eating it. 
Vicky

I do wash my fruit & veg before eating it. Is that paranoid? 

Sometimes, I do, sometimes I don't.  I probably should all of the time though!

I do wash my fruit & veg before eating it. Is that paranoid? 

No. Because if you're eating organic fruit and veg that would be fertilised with manure which would make you VERY ill if you ate some by mistake.  And if you're eating non-organic fruit and veg that would have all sorts of chemicals used for pesticides and fertilizers and they are probably not really very good for you.  Common sense, really.

I agree.

My ex used to a be a sous chef, and she can tell you that the UK does not have a monopoly on filthy kitchens.

Regarding lice, when my sister was a little girl in the US in the 1960s or early 1970s, her class in school had a lice epidemic. I know because of the story about my mother vacuuming her head to attempt to get any hidden lice out.

I just had to giggle at the "vacuuming her head" bit!! That's hilarious -- did it help? It does sound like an innovative idea that could really work, seriously!

Talking about dirty restaurant kitchens; back in Austin there was a weekly report on a local news station, informing Austinites as to which restaurants had scored good grades in their health inspections and which had been cast into shame and temporary closure because of bad practices failing them. The report gave gory details on everything the health inspectors had found going on in the kitchens of the failed restaurants -- it was gruesome! Cockroaches in the salad ingredients waiting to be dished out, black mould growing in the drinks dispensers, staff observed picking their noses then handling food, cleaning products found stored next to food products, dead flies in the refrigerators along with the food.

No wonder I got upset stomachs a lot during the first year I ate out almost daily in Austin - I started cooking at home instead.....

This reminds me of some Americans who were in lodgings in Britain, with full board, and they walked in through the kitchen and saw the family pet cat laying on a raw chicken on the counter and it was licking it. They passed on the chicken when it was served at dinner that night.

Sorry if I offended you cat lovers.

No problem -- I love my cat but I wouldn't eat chicken he had licked either! Not after observing how he cleans up after a bowel movement! 

   this cat lover would be just as grossed out by it!

I had a cat who liked to give kisses.  As cute as it was (as and much as I loved her) - couldn't do it because of how dirty cat mouths are  

I do wash my fruit & veg before eating it. Is that paranoid? 

Oh, gosh, sorry, not at all!  I am sure I should, but it has never done me any harm not doing so.  Veg gets cooked and most fruit gets peeled anyway.  But I am just lazy!

Paranoia would be those who keep their children wrapped in some kind of germ-free bubble, where everything seems to have a kind of film of disinfectant.  As Midnight Blue and chary have said, we need a little dirt!


Vicky

And I never clean fruit or veg before eating it.

Even if it's covered in mud cos somebody just pulled it up out of the garden?   



Ha ha!  This has got to be one of the best threads yet - I nominate it for Thread of the Year!

Even if it's covered in mud cos somebody just pulled it up out of the garden?   

No..I just peel it!   



Vicky

No..I just peel it!   

What about leeks?

No..I just peel it!   

What about things like apples, pears, peaches, berries, etc.?

Even if it's covered in mud cos somebody just pulled it up out of the garden?   

I'd rather scrub than peel 'cause I like veggie skins! So I always give potatoes, carrots, etc. a good scrub before cooking, just to get all the mud and other stuff off.

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Paranoia would be those who keep their children wrapped in some kind of germ-free bubble, where everything seems to have a kind of film of disinfectant.  As Midnight Blue and chary have said, we need a little dirt!


Vicky

It's pretty sad when parents are that extreme, because it can be detrimental rather than helpful or healthy.....I knew a woman who, with her first child, was so paranoid about cleanliness and the potential for allergies, that she had decided there should never be a dog or cat in the house for fear that her son will develop an allergy to them. Even though she loved cats and had owned them in the past, so it wasn't just a disinterest in pets in general.

I tried to tell her that I had read many things to the contrary, that research has in fact found that early exposure helps prevent the development of such an allergy because a child's immune system puts its building blocks together in those first two years of life, based on what the child is exposed to -- the body is an amazing thing and can't learn to fight what it's not allowed to take on. She was a very intelligent and highly educated woman, so I was surprised that she hadn't come across this info about babies immune systems