Pasta salad - using hands to mix?!??

[SomethingLikeAPhenomenom]

DH was making a mayo pasta salad today as friends over for a BBQ. He'd put all the ingredients in a big bowl, I walked in on him using his hands to mix it all together. AIBU to have called him out on how disgusting and inappropriate this is? No idea where he's got the idea that hands are better than spoons. Am now getting the silent treatment - genuinely now questioning if I am in the wrong here and this is normal behaviour??

@2155User
Bit worrying considering the huge wealth of information regarding hand washing recently! I don’t think it gives me much confidence

I mash potatoes by hand, squeezing them. Fabulous in winter. Have to wait for them to cool in summer. I also mix tuna mayo by hand, using my hand to dip out the mayo. It's all fine, don't know why we're such a squeamish nation. (Or am i perhaps lying , I'll see myself out!)

I do it but use gloves when I do

Given the fact that when the great unwashed of the UK actually started washing their hands regularly there was a national shortage of soap, I’m laughing at the assertion that everyone who preps food has squeaky clean hands. Recent evidence suggests that hand washing hasn’t been high on the agenda for lots of people 😉

But surely it's no less hygenic than him making you (for example) a ham and tomato sandwich? Presumably he'd be touching the bread, ham and tomato with his hands?

@Dominicgoings

Given the fact that when the great unwashed of the UK actually started washing their hands regularly there was a national shortage of soap, I’m laughing at the assertion that everyone who preps food has squeaky clean hands. Recent evidence suggests that hand washing hasn’t been high on the agenda for lots of people 😉

there was shortage because people were 'stockpiling' the soap... not because people were never ever washing their hands

😷😷😷😷😷😷😷

‘here was shortage because people were 'stockpiling' the soap... not because people were never ever washing their hands’

You’d be amazed at how many people have discovered regular handwashing for the first time 😂

Chefs use their hands to mix lots of things, all the time. And there's no way every kitchen is a sterile environment.

@NotAQueef

Yanbu. Unacceptable. Do was making chilli the other day and I caught him breaking up the mince with his hands 🤢🤮

And what's wrong with that? If he was making meatballs from the same mince it would be fine to use his hands. I've broken up mince with my hands. I've mixed salad with my hands. I used my hands a lot when I'm cooking - I find it much easier. Obviously, I wash my hands a lot too.

How would you make a sandwich for guests? I think it’s odd you find your husbands hands disgusting

Marinading something?

It’s marinating.

So long as hands are washed first, it's completely fine. I use my hands like that to make crumble.

How do you make sandwiches OP?

Food is often touched when being prepared

there was shortage because people were 'stockpiling' the soap... not because people were never ever washing their hands confused

I remember MN threads full of people proud for not washing their hands regularly.

It's well known that a fairly large percentage of people don't wash their hands after using public toilets.

Mayo is a great culture medium for bacteria.
I wouldn't want to risk contaminating a salad that will sit at room temperature for a while with hands that had not been thoroughly washed just before it.

And yes, it's safer when handling food that will be cooked.
And dry food.

If he happened to touch anything like raw meat before mixing the salad that had mayo...

Chefs don't work in sterile environments but they are very careful about separating things like meat from vegetables that won't be cooked properly, for example.

PS- even operating theatres aren't sterile.

I do it but use gloves when I do

That would bother me an awful lot more than someone using their hands.

'1970s cul de sac pasta salad...... yum...

Doesn't anyone use those disposable food prep gloves? I use them if I'm making meatballs or anything similar than really does need to be mixed by hand, otherwise all the meat and things get under my fingernails and it feels grim

@isabellerossignol

I do it but use gloves when I do

That would bother me an awful lot more than someone using their hands.

Yes I have no idea why people think disposable gloves (apart from medical ones) are clean.

Gross

When I wear disposable gloves in the kitchen is to avoid getting my hands dirty.
Not the other way around.

It’s perfectly fine, OP.

As long as his hands are clean (hot water doesn’t matter) it’s safe and efficient.

@beingsunny

Doesn't anyone use those disposable food prep gloves? I use them if I'm making meatballs or anything similar than really does need to be mixed by hand, otherwise all the meat and things get under my fingernails and it feels grim

Me too Making a sandwich is different as you are handling dry ingredients. I wouldn't have eaten the salad if I'd seen that

Eggs can be very easily separated without using fingers, just the egg shell.

Mixing mayo salad with hands is gross and absolutely unnecessary.