How to keep your food prep clean - observations about TV advice (I.)

[taxlady]

I saw a TV show today that had a guest who was telling us all sorts of things to change in our kitchens to minimize food contamination. Some of the advice was good. Most of it had me sputtering.

Hand washing: Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap for at least 20 seconds.

Yikes. Anti-bacterial soap is one of my pet peeves. I have some for very special cases, but using it every day is equivalent to running a program to breed anti-bacterial soap resistant germs. Thorough washing with regular soap and water followed by a good rinse is plenty good enough. If you don't believe me, have a look at this article: Is antibacterial soap any better than regular soap?

20 seconds! If you are using anti-bacterial soap, you have to leave it on your hands for two minutes, if you want it to have special powers.

It even turns out that triclosan, the germ killing agent in most anti-bacterial soap, may mess with our thyroids and cause environmental problems: Researchers sour on antibacterial soap.

I will post the rest of my snarky observations over the next few days.

Comments

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

What can I say other than I agree with this post? I washed my hands with antibacterial soap back in Montreal for a couple of months. The result was the worst itching in my hands because the soap was killing the good bacteria in my skin!

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

Well, you are one of the people I would expect actually would read the instructions and leave it on for the suggested amount of time. ;)