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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not eat the BBQ food after...

151 replies

BBQBoke · 16/04/2022 16:20

...witnessing the hosts poor food hygiene?

The nice weather this weekend has meant I have been invited to the first BBQ of the year...happy days! Or it was until I saw the host pull the chicken fillets out of the fridge and pierce the packet open with a knife and then put the knife back in the drawer😱🤮 They then took the chicken out of the packet and put onto the BBQ and trickled some water over their hands - no soap! - and have just put some cutlery on the table from the same drawer they put the knife back into. I'm suddenly not feeling hungry now.

WIBU to make up an excuse to leave? Or suck it up and hope I don't end up with the shits?

OP posts:
Cocomarine · 16/04/2022 16:53

Where’s the chicken washing coming from?
It’s the not washing his hands that’s the issue.

I’m guessing he thought (without thinking much) that he pierced the chicken wrapping plastic and the knife only made contact with the plastic and the air underneath. And therefore didn’t need washing.

Original poster
BBQBoke · 16/04/2022 16:54

I'm glad I'm not being too unreasonable. I've eaten a bratwurst sausage and tanked a glass of gin, I'm now too full for anything else Wink I have food hygiene OCD and seeing that just gave me the willies. I may skip future invitations.

OP posts:
KimikosNightmare · 16/04/2022 16:54

@OfstedOffred

Oh god I wouldn't have even noticed.

We are too germ obsessed these days.

Neither would I. I don't however eat chicken as hate the taste.
Nnique · 16/04/2022 16:56

I’m actually very relaxed. Not a germ phobe at all and very chilled out when it comes to food. But I draw the line at questionable food hygiene around BBQs because it really doesn’t bode well for the cooking capability of the host.

Babadook76 · 16/04/2022 16:57

@OfstedOffred

Oh god I wouldn't have even noticed.

We are too germ obsessed these days.

I didn’t want to be the first one to say it. I must be fucking minging compared to the people on here going by what some of them apparently do. You should have seen the abuse I got a few weeks ago for being one of the only people on a very long thread admitting I don’t wash my fruit before eating it. I didn’t even know that was a thing 🤷🏼‍♀️
SheWoreYellow · 16/04/2022 16:57

I’d eat the meat straight off the barbecue, so long as no one had handled it with their raw chicken-y hands - that will be perfectly safe.

RampantIvy · 16/04/2022 16:59

@alilstressed

I'm also thinking that the chicken was neither washed or seasoned before going on the grill!
You shouldn't wash chicken. I don't wash any meat.
LittleOldLadies · 16/04/2022 17:01

I questioned my OH the other day as he opened a pack of mince using a knife and then putting the knife back in the drawer. He couldn’t see an issue with it. I, on the other hand, also have food hygiene OCD and have the fear this weekend of the likelihood of being served quiche which has been in a warm car for 4 hours…

I’m with you OP.

I think my OH thinks I am OTT - he’s still alive despite cutting using knives which might have cut open mince the day before so what’s the problem - whereas I would rather not have food poisoning if at all possible!

Cocomarine · 16/04/2022 17:01

@BBQBoke

I'm glad I'm not being too unreasonable. I've eaten a bratwurst sausage and tanked a glass of gin, I'm now too full for anything else Wink I have food hygiene OCD and seeing that just gave me the willies. I may skip future invitations.
Food hygiene OCD? Really? But not so OCD that you were fine with the Bratwurst. I’m not a fan of people casually using the term, though fair enough if you actually do suffer.
Chickydoo · 16/04/2022 17:03

@OfstedOffred

Oh god I wouldn't have even noticed.

We are too germ obsessed these days.

@OfstedOffred totally agree with you, I wouldn't have even registered this.
Nnique · 16/04/2022 17:05

@Babadook76 that’s really not comparable though. I can well believe that people freaked out.

That said, I’m very relaxed about food - happy to eat meat, including chicken, well past the date as long as I judge that it’s still fine, keep many other fresh foods waaay past the use by dates, don’t worry at all about reheating rice, use my own judgement to determine cooking times rather than drying out meats, etc etc.

However chicken at a bbq where the host doesn’t know how to do even basic things properly means I don’t trust they’ll know how to judge when the food is properly done. I’m not a metophobe either by any means and I’ve lived on three continents and am very comfortable with cultural differences to food safety for example. But I’m not going to risk getting sick because some numpty doesn’t know how to at least try to mitigate any risk where it’s wise to do so.

Looneytune253 · 16/04/2022 17:06

I can't see masses wrong with what's happened here. All the tv chefs just wipe their hands with a towel or put their fingers in a bowl of water after handling meat. I wash mine in running water but don't bother with soap unless particularly messy or greasy

alilstressed · 16/04/2022 17:08

@ColdSeptember good question, I never thought to ask Wink
And of course you have to exercise good hygiene when cleaning your meat. Many people decant the meat into a bowl and then squeeze lemon/lime/vinegar. Its all contained and then you give the area a proper clean afterwards. It's funny that whenever washing meat comes up people think that you're flinging the meat and splashing the water around.
So everything that was in the OP was dodgy practice to me and if any of my family or Black friends were to see me take chicken out of a packet and just put it into a pan or pot I'm sure they would straight up leave and tell me why.

Oblomov22 · 16/04/2022 17:08

I wouldn't have even noticed. I'd just be pleased someone was serving me food and not having to cook it myself.

Wash chicken? Bollocks to that.

RetrainRetrain · 16/04/2022 17:09

I can't believe people wouldn't notice a host handling raw chicken and not washing Envy

Crikeyalmighty · 16/04/2022 17:10

I will only eat veggie burgers at BBQS or veggie sausages- and crisps etc — and I’m not veggie— I’ve had one too many dodgy tummies in the past!!!

Nnique · 16/04/2022 17:11

It made sense when you mentioned being of Caribbean heritage, and washing that way is very different to the typical scenario of someone manhandling a whole chicken or turkey under the kitchen tap!

arethereanyleftatall · 16/04/2022 17:11

I also wouldn't have noticed. It's not the kind of thing I'd be on the lookout for.

chisanunian · 16/04/2022 17:11

I wouldn't have a problem with the chicken, but I would with the unwashed knife going back in the cutlery drawer, and the lack of handwashing after handling raw meat.

Dumblebum · 16/04/2022 17:13

Other than piercing the chicken and putting the knife back in the drawer, I’d not have noticed anything else and as long as well cooked I’ve had eaten it without thought.

NeedAnOffSwitch · 16/04/2022 17:15

We used to share a caravan with the ILs every year. Fucking twice a fucking year.

And every time, we'd all come down with a "virus" and be sick as dogs, with the ILs blaming the fellow holiday makers for spreading vomiting and diahorrea bugs around.

No, it couldn't possibly have been the fact that not a single one washed their hands, even after using the loo (dry sinks after the fact, dry, cracked soap bar for the duration of the holiday and obviously what we witnessed ourselves, plus SIL loudly declaring that she never washed hands after a wee etc why the fuck would anyone admit that?)
Then there was the handling raw meat followed by wiping hands off with a tea towel before moving on to the salad.

Took me a while but I managed to get DH to agree to separate caravans and me offering to cook for everyone before anyone else had a chance to.

I wouldn't eat from the BBQ. I'd fake a tummy bug now rather than getting a real one later.

FavouritePi · 16/04/2022 17:16

After being horrendously sick from one BBQ chicken drumstick in the past at a British bar BBQ, I'd avoid eating all together if that's the hygiene they've got going on in their kitchen.

Also, certain cultures wash meat and do it carefully and well. However, in the past I'm sure we were all taught to wash meat before the advice changed. People lived to tell the tale.

Mickarooni · 16/04/2022 17:19

[quote alilstressed]@ColdSeptember good question, I never thought to ask Wink
And of course you have to exercise good hygiene when cleaning your meat. Many people decant the meat into a bowl and then squeeze lemon/lime/vinegar. Its all contained and then you give the area a proper clean afterwards. It's funny that whenever washing meat comes up people think that you're flinging the meat and splashing the water around.
So everything that was in the OP was dodgy practice to me and if any of my family or Black friends were to see me take chicken out of a packet and just put it into a pan or pot I'm sure they would straight up leave and tell me why.[/quote]
Even with good hygiene which I don’t doubt, there is a much higher risk of food poisoning. That’s your call, I guess.

I wonder if people who are from cultures who do wash meat let their guests know. I’m in immunocompromised and wouldn’t be able to eat in someone’s home. I’ve never thought to ask! I will now!

Anonymous48 · 16/04/2022 17:21

@OfstedOffred

Oh god I wouldn't have even noticed.

We are too germ obsessed these days.

Really? Do you not wash your hands after handling raw chicken? That's disgusting!
knittingaddict · 16/04/2022 17:21

@OfstedOffred

Oh god I wouldn't have even noticed.

We are too germ obsessed these days.

I have a really robust attitude towards food. I will eat out of date stuff if it still looks and smells ok. I don't like anti bac cleaners and I'm not precious about many things, but using a knife, getting raw chicken juices on it and putting it straight back in the drawer? No thanks.
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