AIBU or is DH? Food hygiene related

[Absofrigginlootly]

Please help settle a friendly debate....

ok, I admit I can be a little OTT about food hygiene/infection control etc (being a nurse).... But this evening DH had just started browning some beef for a stew and dropped the plastic spoon he'd just stirred the raw meat with on the floor. He chucked the spoon in the sink and picked up a new one.

"Aren't you going to spray dettol on the floor and wipe where the spoon fell?" I said.

DH said he didn't see the need. .....
We have a crawling baby!

DH thinks what I said needed doing was OTT...... AIBU??

(Should I LTB?!)

Bunnyjo, the OP said it was beef.

I would have wiped with a wet cloth or kitchen roll if there was a wet area but not anti-bac.

My dh would have picked up the spoon and kept on using it!

So they did, worra! I really shouldn't mumsnet when I'm studying - I fail to do either effectively!

Op, YABU.

Please stop using anti baccy spray for this shit. It's so bad for all of us not least your children. I blame bloody advertising for making people think they have to disinfect everywhere all the time.

YABU. Beef is not an issue. I'd probably wipe up any splatter or grease though just so it wasn't getting smelly or slippy on the floor.

Is antibac spray bad Onthe? Or is it because of what you said about people disinfecting everywhere all the time?

Is it even possible for anyone to antibac their home to the extent that it's actually a danger to their health?

bunnyjo that's very interesting thank you!

I suspect he would have the same attitude had it been raw chicken tbh!! but I have learnt something new today!

I still think I will have to clean in the future too though.... It's just too ingrained in me as a nurse!!!!

I'd have put the spoon back in the beef personally, and I wouldnt have antibac'd the floor. I don't even own any antibacterial spray. You're being completely OTT

Also, it's open plan so the kitchen floor is also the dining and living room floor too.... Hard to keep the baby out! ;)

there is evidence that the excessive use of antibacterial spray is preventing people from building up resistance to germs and therefore essentially putting people at more risk.

Fwiw, someone xh used to work with had a baby who was pre-term and when she left scbu they were told not to sterilise anything because the scbu is such a sterile environment that the baby has to build up immunity. It's a sentiment I've heard echoed on mn over the years...

And ref the meat, your h dropped a spoon on the floor which had come into contact with meat which was cooking. It wasn't actually raw meat and neither did raw meat come into contact with the floor. Added to that, it was beef not chicken or pork, and given that rare steak is a fairly commonly served dish in most restaurants and people don't commonly die from eating it, the risk really is non existent. I would wipe the surface if it was greasy but certainly wouldn't have gone over it with spray.

And crawling baby would be allowed nowhere near the kitchen while I was cooking. In fact I had a safety gate on my kitchen door when mine was little. He was allowed in the kitchen in his high chair but not allowed to crawl around.

Yes yes Agent. The rise in allergies is being attributed to over sterilisation and over use of these products. But just common sense wise, it can't be good to raise children in a too clean environment. Unless of course someone is immunocompromised. But I saw the other day antibacterial washing powder for clothes!!!! WTF! And now an antibacterial product to run an empty cycle in the washing machine! Why. Just why! I don't know how you could get sick from 'bacteria' on your clothes. I dispair for the children who grow up in these homes and then take a holiday in Africa or South East Asia. Will they nearly die from sudden exposure to germs that make people like me who have been raised in a non anti bacced environment a bit sick??? It's all marketing and playing on people's fears. I used to work in advertising for these sorts of companies so I know well what they are doing.

People seem to be under the impression the baby crawls in the kitchen while we are cooking... She does not.... I meant when she crawls there later ....after the meat juice had time to stew nicely and bacteria to multiply!!!

I'd have just thrown the tea towel down and moved it around with my foot (shoes on still, of course) to stop it being slippery.

'antibacterial washing powder for clothes!!!!'

I've seen adverts for them and wondered too, my MN head said maybe if you've got to wash out shitty bedclothes or something? Would it work on that? Is there a difference between antibac and disinfectant?

Don't know actually Agent. Maybe difference in % of bacteria they kill but that's just a guess. I suspect antibacterial is the preferred and more profitable term for the marketing of products to mums though.

If there was actually liquid on the floor then I'd wipe it up but I wouldn't be using dettol or anything. If there was no stain or liquid then I'd do nothing. And I have a crawling baby too.

The bacteria you're worried about won't live very long on the kitchen floor, especially being trod on and all. Probably won't live longer than it takes to cook dinner, so I wouldn't worry.

I don't have anything anti bacterial in the house. If it was obviously wet I'd wipe it up just with a bit of kitchen towel to prevent a slip, but like a PP I'd have probably carried on using the spoon anyway.

Bacteria won't live long on the floor - unless they are spore-forming they will likely die very quickly and they certainly won't undergo cell division.

Antibacterial agents such as triclosan in handwashes etc. are not just bad for us, but truly appalling for the environment as they get washed into water bodies and break down into dioxin compounds that kill aquatic organisms and mess up the ecology. In a hospital environment (e.g. surgeon scrubbing up for an operation) they are appropriate, but they are complete overkill in a domestic situation. Repeated studies have shown that washing your hand with soap and water is just as effective as using an antibacterial handwash.

To quote a Korean scientist whose research was published a couple of months ago in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy: "Triclosan has antibacterial activity against bacteria, fungi and viruses; indeed, there is little doubt that the compound has antimicrobial activity. However, the use of triclosan remains controversial because various adverse effects have been reported, including allergies, antibiotic resistance, endocrine disruption, acute/chronic toxicity and bioaccumulation; one study even identified carcinogenic impurities. Antibacterial soap containing triclosan (0.3%) was no more effective than plain soap at reducing bacterial contamination when used under ‘real-life’ conditions."

As Onthe says, ignore the ridiculous fearmongering adverts and marketing ploys from multinationals wanting you to buy more of their products and avoid buying antibacterial soaps, washing powders, washing up liquid and ironing water (yup, it does contain them - read the ingredients!!).

I think you are way OTT and agree with those saying that crawling children will come across far worse. My friend's son happily chewed a dead mouse the cat brought him and didn't even get sick (although I think she did from the shock )

You need to put away your antibacterials and chill out a bit

YANBU. But I've been a vegetarian for over 2 decades and consider meat in general pretty unsanitary tbh.

That said, I agree ^ about the unnecessary and potentially dangerous nature of antibacterial everything. Ordinary soap/detergent and water just fine. I do have antibac sprays at home but their only use is on the loo, to wipe out bins now and again (though I prefer spirit vinegar for that) and for the inevitable dog poo cleanup operations that come with being a parent.

I would just have used a bit of kitchen roll to mop up the wet so it wasn't slippery. The same spoon would have gone back in the meat.

There is such a thing as too clean, you are not sterilising a ward so it is safe for immunosuppressed patients at risk of infection.

Arf at swedish

Ok you slovenly lot To those of you who said IABU and OTT.... Would you react the same way if it had been raw chicken or pork not beef??