If Someone Was Unsanitary?

Hand washing is always a good sign. I'd say that if they washed their hands as a normal routine and not just because they thought someone was watching them then it's ok.

Nope, nope and nope. There's too much good food out there in the world to waste calories on food that would gross me out because I'd be wondering what other unsanitary habits the food preparers had.

Hi sweet-

Well...now you have me thinking....

What else would you have them DO besides wash hands?

If you are 'purchasing' food...maybe a hand wash...and a fresh pair of those food prep gloves would be in order.

But a relative?

Washing hands should suffice (as I would expect anyone to do after the rest room...or a 'nose blow').

Would it gross me out to see it? Yes.

But good handwashing would seem the remedy.

Michele/cat

See I only think of it as being unsanitary if they didn't wash their hands. I mean is it really any different than using the bathroom, then washing your hands, followed by preparing a dish?

I enjoy potlucks most times, I'm picky on what I like to eat, so that a bigger concern of mine than how it was prepared. I've never gotten sick from it, so I'm comfortable with it!

how good can they make food?

Huh??? That's so gross!

I used to work with this disgusting woman. I had never seen anyone so lazy about everything. She had several pets, by several I mean more than eight. One day she made cupcakes and brought them into work. If you held them up you could see they were fuzzy from all the pet hair embedded in the frosting.

Needless to say no one ate any. She tried to offer them to customers and we would be standing behind her shaking our heads no.

We didn't really say anything.

On a personal level don't we generally interact with like minded people? I have never been to the home of anyone that didn't have the same food prep protocol as I do.

Oh I do know of a woman who tried to sue the restaurant she worked for because she was let go because of customer complaints about where she was digging before handing them their food. She claimed the customers were discriminating against her though she never gave a basis for it.

If they washed their hands well, yes I would eat the food.

Why not? It's all that's required after using the restroom, and I'm sure you get more germs from that direct contact with a dirty butt than you would scratching through your pants... As long as the hands are PROPERLY washed (None of that quick-rinse BS...), I don't have issues.

Well, if Pig Pen (of Charlie Brown fame) and his cloud of dust were bragging about his fantastic potato salad over there on the table..yes I would think twice before grabbing a plate!

I am watchful, and generally only go to affairs where I know the sources (I went to tons of grad parties this weekend and ate almost nothing and not really on purpose but I think instinct kicks in!)

But yes, grossy gross folks in general make me want to bathe in antibacterial soap. So I am careful I think.

OMG NO NO NO that is one of the things I cannot tolerate. If I don’t know you keep your hands away from all of your orifices.

If it was my close family then yes as long as they washed i would eat it because we have share a lot more than a few boogers.

I don’t do potlucks, at all. (And on the rare occasion that I do I will ask a friend what dish they brought and stick to what I know)

I'd probably be too grossed out to eat it even if they washed hands.

We were on a visit to my SIL one year and I couldn't eat the entire time I was there because as she prepped the food, she would taste it. That is fine and dandy if you take the portion to be tasted OUT of the pan and onto a plate but she would eat from the pan where it was cooking for everyone. UGH

I also cannot drink after anyone else, as in share a soda, bottle of water etc. UGH

Not unless I saw them scrubbing under their nails. Just quickly washing is not adequate after picking of any kind.

I try not to run in the same social circles as public nosepicker/crotch scratchers, so potlucks are not a problem!

Well, I am pretty picky. I don't even eat at public buffets. I don't think that I would eat at the restaurant with the nose picker.

I have a relative that is pretty gross as far as hand hygiene and picking at personal body parts while cooking - He is always trying to get me to try something that he made and I just pretend to eat it.

I don't participate in potlucks unless I trust the source(s).

I might go ahead and eat it, but I would likely whisper something like, "Thanks for washing your hands first." I have been known to thank people for washing and for asking them to wash. I am also no stranger to walking away when they don't.

I think that hand-washing would make them sanitary.

The thing is, you can't see what goes on in the kitchen at Mcdonalds, or other restaurants. They could be crotch/arse scratching every 5 minutes, and probably are. I don't eat out much any more, because these things run through my head too!
I wouldn't eat the food, if I saw someone digging!

I would probably still be grossed out even after the person washed his or her hands. And I would say something, probably asking the person to put on gloves even after washing hands. Otherwise I might not eat the food. I'm just very picky about cleanliness and food. My daughter did a huge project on foodborne illnesses recently and we all learned a lot, not least of which is that food workers are not well trained or regulated in many, many places.

Anyone working with the public shouldn't be picking his or her nose or scratching a crotch in view of others anyway. I guess it's better that you see it happen and KNOW that the hands were washed afterward but...still gross, not to mention horrid manners for someone serving the public.

I don't eat at a certain gigantic sandwich chain because my mom pointed out that she had repeatedly seen workers at this chain take orders at the register, handle cash -- is anything nastier than cash? -- and then turn around and make sandwiches without any hand-washing in between. Disgusting. (She did speak up and say that they should stop preparing her sandwich and give her money back, and she told them why. Good for her!)And pulling gloves over dirty hands doesn't work for me either. I now watch to see if the person handling money is also handling food. If that person uses tongs to put something prepared into a bag, etc., that's fine, but I would not eat anything prepared by hands that just handled cash. I think it's the one hugely underrated thing that gets done without any of us thinking about it.

At someone's house, if I saw something prepared in an unsanitary way I would simply avoid eating it -- but would not say anything because it would reflect rudely on my host's normal way of doing things. I know from responses on here about questions regarding food safety that some families have very different attitudes about food, germs, etc. from mine.

Been there, done that. The onlooker, not the nose picker, lol. I never said anything to the people who prepared but did to those who were going to eat it. I wouldn't eat it. My stepmother and even my father was like that, but worse. Black fingernails when manhandling food. Blah! I always knew to eat before going over and only choosing things that I knew was free of their mitts.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets