To be angry with MIL over food hygiene?

[Shil0846]

MIL supposed to be helping me prepare family dinner. After putting Ds down for his nap, I discovered her with the raw chicken on my kitchen table (close to place mats and 1 of DS's toys) busy stuffing lemon up it's bottom. So I moved them away and went to the cupboard to get the veg.

When I turned round, I found she'd collected a bottle of oil, a knife from my cutlery drawer, onions and a tub of butter from the fridge - all without washing her hands. To get to the onions she'd have had to move the lettuce and tomato in the salad drawer of my fridge.

Am I over-reacting to think this is really disgusting and dangerous -particularly with a 1 YO in the house? She got very defensive when I asked her to wash her hands and said she's been cooking for over 50 years without any problem. She was also fuming when I insisted on scrubbing down the table where the chicken had been. Am I being too precious about this, or do I need to wash all cutlery/fridge door/bottles etc that may have come into contact?

I personally think you're being a bit ott.

Over-reaction.

I think you're being a bit neurotic and definitely too precious

Tricky one. Your mil doubtless has been doing all that for years without anyone getting ill, but I understand your wish to be very careful with anything that has been near raw chicken and I always wash my hands carefully immediately after touching it, before doing anything else.

She probably feels your are being paranoid or she might possibly feel embarrassed.

Try not to make an enormous issue out of it.

I dont think you are OTT. I hate handling raw chicken and don't like chickeny hands touching other surfaces.

Sorry to say I also think your being OTT.

Is it not a cause for concern if its running juice onto other cooked/uncooked meats?

sigh. You need to get over yourself. I'm sure she is very upset

Overreaction

Yabu about everything other than touching lettuce etc with chickeny hands, although I do think if you're in someone else's kitchen, you should play by their rules.

It wouldn't bother me and I can see why she doesn't understand the fuss. Wash down whateverwhatever you want but don't expect her to change.

You're overreacting, my DP is a chicken germ phobe too, it's slightly tiring at times. A quick wipe down of the table before eating would have been fine.

It's not best practice, but it's not disgusting and dangerous, it's pretty normal in domestic kitchens. The hysteria about raw meat maybe being within 500 yards of other ingredients is a very new thing.

I don't think you are being OTT at all. Raw chicken is a terrible bugbear of mine. When I see people preparing chicken on reality shows and wandering all around their kitchen touching stuff straight after I feel sick. You were right to say it and years and years of recurrent food poisoning as a result of my parents lack of food hygiene says thank god your child has a mother with some sense.

It depends.... I've never had problems, but am probably a bit lacking in the food hygiene department too....

if it matters that much to you, clean it. If you have eaten meals at hers before - then you now know how she will have produced it... are you going to refuse to eat anything she cooks at home?

(you shouldn't keep onions in the fridge - it causes them to soften prematurely)

I don't think you're being unreasonable. I never touch anything after touching raw chicken without washing my hands.

culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Cross-Contamination.htm

I don't think yabu. Raw chicken on a table and then 'fuming' because you wanted to clean it? She is over reacting. If the raw chicken touched your ds's toys or he touched the table and then put his hands in his mouth he could get very ill.
People are too relaxed when it comes to food hygiene. Fine if she wants to cook like that in her own home, but she needs to take in to account a 1 year olds health. Children are more susceptible to illness.

Yanbu, I would really dislike this. Especially the touching of other veg

I think YANBU actually. Most things I'm pretty laid back about, but not raw poultry.

I made turkey meatballs the other day with turkey mince and I was washing my hands every few minutes; I wouldn't have gone into a drawer or the fridge with raw turkey on my hands, it's a bit disgusting.

Yanbu...that is horrid. So much cross contamination. Once I have touched raw chicken I don't touch anything else till I have washed my hands...it is common sense. I am surprised so many on here think it is fine.

And yes, I'd clean everything that you think she may have touched - OTT or not, I'd sooner do that than risk food poisoning.

Sorry, just to be clear, your MIL was handling raw meat, then without washing her hands, she was touching other items in your kitchen including ingredients that one would normally serve raw ie salad items?

YANBU at all, I would be very unimpressed and my BIL, a chef would be horrified!

It's a difficult one.

I typically wash my hands three our four times when preparing a roast chicken, because I always forget to get everything out first, so I wash them, get something out, touch the chicken, wash my hands, get something else out, touch the chicken, wash my hands, etc.

But even if you do want to do all that cleaning down, I suggest you do it when she isn't there, if you can.

"The hysteria about raw meat maybe being within 500 yards of other ingredients is a very new thing."

Well, it's about as new as keeping battery chickens that shit all over each other and cause salmonella and campylobacter to accumulate in the chickens, I'd say.

YANBU! Really surprised by some of the responses on here.

You don't want to alienate her. You just want to help her safeguard your family's health. I don't think that reaction was OTT.