Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
Lovely13 · 17/04/2022 22:03

I’ve just horrified sibling by eating yoghurt 12 days past sell-by date. It’s fine. Looked and smelled good. I’m still alive....
Luckily for his senses, had a new carton, which he used 😐

AllThoseDirtyWords · 17/04/2022 22:13

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

No it always tasted like chicken to me and was delicious!

707smile · 17/04/2022 22:23

@alilstressed

Washing/cleaning meat before seasoning is contentious for some but not, if like me, you are from a Caribbean background.
There is still the potential for salmonella/campylobacter to get all over the sink though unless you're very careful with cleaning it afterwards.
707smile · 17/04/2022 22:30

@limitedperiodonly

First BBQ of summer and we have raw chicken, whether you should wash it or not depending if you're of Caribbean heritage and also rinse in vinegar and/or lemon juice, minging in-laws and their ghastly caravan holidays and the OP being a little bit OCD.

My bingo card is filling up nicely.

There's no such thing as a little bit OCD. It's like saying 'a little bit schizophrenia' or 'a little bit cancer'.
707smile · 17/04/2022 22:36

@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.
Have you been diagnosed wiht OCD BBQBoke? There's not really such a thing as 'food hygiene specific OCD', do you mean OCD with a contamination obsession which centres on food poisoning?
707smile · 17/04/2022 22:36

** with, not 'wiht

merryhouse · 17/04/2022 22:38

@Faffandahalf - the "cultural background" of most of the posters exclaiming that we shouldn't wash chicken is full of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who will have merrily shoved a chicken under the tap to get out the excess blood and ice crystals once they'd removed the bag of giblets (and for the older ones, before they stuffed it).

The advice is really very new.

(my husband has been known to jab the meat pack and put the knife back in the block... I did suggest it's probably not a good idea, and he shrugged and agreed, but hasn't entirely stopped)

707smile · 17/04/2022 22:39

@Whatsmyname100

You must have your eyes closed to be making such a mess. It's absolutely gross to not wash the chicken.🤢 Why would anything be splashing around?
It's not grose because if you cook it at the right temperature it kills any nasties. Soaking or rinsing raw chicken poses a cross contamination risk.
Faffandahalf · 17/04/2022 23:01

Yah sorry. But in many non white cultures in this country not washing a chicken is gross. My mum would have a fit if she saw me not washing the chicken…like she would think I was mad 😆
Nothing anyone says about bacteria/cross contamination blah blah is going to change that. African, Afro-Caribbean and South Asian families are not dropping dead daily from chicken contamination.

MrsR87 · 17/04/2022 23:08

I’m quite shocked by the amount of posters that wouldn’t be bothered if the host/chef didn’t wash their hands properly after handing raw meat, especially chicken! The knife thing is also grim and means that anything else prepped/eaten using utensils in proximity is now also contaminated.

Believe me, salmonella is no joke. My husband contracted it a few years ago from a takeaway and he was dreadfully poorly despite being young, fit and healthy. Needless to say we are scrupulous with our own food hygiene (and always were to be honest) but we are now much more careful about where we order food from/ eat out etc. I would definitely have picked up on it and to be honest, I would have said something.

tkwal · 17/04/2022 23:30

You would have been fine as long as they didn't touch the cooked chicken/meats with their bare hands although I would have been wary of any side dishes they had chopped themselves

Fluffmum · 17/04/2022 23:32

Do not eat anything.

ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave · 18/04/2022 01:18

Thank you for the explanation Faffandahalf!

Boredoutmymind · 18/04/2022 02:01

I dont eat meat but this this disgusting.
My friend was going to put cooked meat on a dish that had raw meat juices on. I screamed at him.
This food was going to be served to children too.
His hygiene is bad, he also washes meat.

Daisycrown · 18/04/2022 07:46

Yeah it seems as though meat washing continues because it's what parents and grandparents did........

Teddah · 18/04/2022 09:19

@Faffandahalf

Yah sorry. But in many non white cultures in this country not washing a chicken is gross. My mum would have a fit if she saw me not washing the chicken…like she would think I was mad 😆 Nothing anyone says about bacteria/cross contamination blah blah is going to change that. African, Afro-Caribbean and South Asian families are not dropping dead daily from chicken contamination.
Nobody is saying it’s not a cultural norm but it’s an old cultural norm based on outdated, older advice. We now have more knowledge and understand the risks. I wouldn’t be so rude as to call anyone “gross” but the risk of food poisoning is much higher. It’s simple scientific fact. People will continue preparing their food in accordance with their own norms but I think it’s worth being aware of the risks.
DropYourSword · 18/04/2022 09:28

@alilstressed

I'm also thinking that the chicken was neither washed or seasoned before going on the grill!
Absolutely does not need washed

Absolutely DOES need seasoning!!

Cma1988 · 18/04/2022 09:46

Ahhh the annual White-splaining on MN about how washing chicken is the most dangerous thing in the world 😅

I come from a culture where we wash chicken. The person who put above that it contaminates dishes and cutlery drying by the sink, has no relevance because we would never wash meat next to things drying by the sink 😂 and we don’t wash it under running water and splash it around, it’s washed in a bowl 🤣 but of course, your way is “scientifically proven and right”. Funny how I have never ever had any food poisoning from home cooking and I can’t even remember having d&v as a kid tbh, maybe only a handful of times, and never ever serious but the two times I’ve been struck down with food poisoning have been once at a takeaway and once from a friend (who is white British and usually very militant on hygiene) so….yea has someone said before, I’m going to carry on soaking my chicken in a bowl of water and vinegar or lemon thanks.

Faffandahalf · 18/04/2022 10:44

Exactly above. It is whitesplaining. Outdated advice…from who? And for who? Who decided your advice is the right one? Who decided the western way of preparing food is correct?
Ooh science. And yet…as the non white people have said on here we don’t get sick. I’ve never had food poisoning. Neither has my DH or my family or his family. I’ve never eaten at any non white persons house and had food poisoning. Neither has anyone I know. In 40 years so sure science.
But also we are scrupulous with hygiene
Stop thinking your way is ‘right’.

zingally · 18/04/2022 10:49

Honestly, I wouldn't have even noticed. Or even if I had, not cared enough to complain on Mumsnet about it!

Teddah · 18/04/2022 10:52

@Faffandahalf

Exactly above. It is whitesplaining. Outdated advice…from who? And for who? Who decided your advice is the right one? Who decided the western way of preparing food is correct? Ooh science. And yet…as the non white people have said on here we don’t get sick. I’ve never had food poisoning. Neither has my DH or my family or his family. I’ve never eaten at any non white persons house and had food poisoning. Neither has anyone I know. In 40 years so sure science. But also we are scrupulous with hygiene Stop thinking your way is ‘right’.
I didn’t say it’s my way. Grin

Interesting you assumed I’m white. I’m from a non white, non British culture and I am fully aware my cultural norms are probably not preferred for everyone. So tone down your “whitesplaining” bullshit.

I’m immunocompromised so food prep makes me anxious. The risk of food poisoning from washing meat is higher than not washing it. That’s all there is to it. Nobody is saying not to do it. Anecdote doesn’t equal data though! Grin

MrsSkylerWhite · 18/04/2022 10:52

Don’t eat bbq food, been ill too often.

bemusedmoose · 18/04/2022 11:28

honestly - i wouldnt do what they did myself but it wouldnt be a game changer either. I'm not a hygiene freak (3 second rule is fine as long as my 2 second dog doesnt get it first!) but i wouldnt put the knife back, though the other cutlery is extremely unlikely to have anything from the packet on it. I am less careful with myself then when catering for others though.

I always bbq chicken and so does my son. Always juicy and cooked through and never ill.

As for washing chicken!?! You dont wash a steak or a sausage - dont wash chicken!

Also - do people really pay that much attention to the movements of others!?! I wouldnt have noticed any of that going on and to be fair - as a host if someone is watching what i do like that i would feel pretty crappy!

merryhouse · 18/04/2022 13:10

@Faffandahalf @Cma1988 - but when we talk about "washing" it really doesn't incorporate "soaking in a flavoured liquid" - and absolutely does mean "holding under a running tap".

LegMeChicken · 21/04/2022 04:18

YANBU.
also what’s with all the ‘splashing water’ etc when washing chicken?
cultures who Wash chicken do it well, there isn’t any splashing about 🙄