To worry about food poisoning in this situation?

[Worriedmyum]

Ds 14 months has touched the packaging on a raw chicken in Tesco and then immediately put his hands in his mouth. I’m very worried, we only have wet wipes in the car and are now on motorway, is this likely to result in food poisoning?

Do you mean the outside of the packaging with the chicken inside? If so very, very unlikely.

Oh my days

Very unlikely.

The outer packaging? No, he’ll be fine! Think of all the shop workers who have touched it.
I completely understand your fear as this is something I would worry about but it’s anxiety and it’s irrational. Try put it out of your mind. Intrusive thoughts are the worst and I’m sending you a big hug!

To add to all others reading: I really hope nobody berates OP or makes her feel silly for this post or thinks they’ll help her by saying ‘you need to address your anxiety’. Worrying is horrid and paralysing and all of us can feel anxious sometimes x

@TheBossOfMe yes like the clear packaging

What, exactly? Do you feel better about yourself commenting this?

Does he get food poisoning from all the other things he touches?

Surely he touches the floor all the time, then puts his hands in his mouth. That's what babies do.

You're worrying needlessly.

All the shop workers that have touched it plus other shoppers will pose more risk than the actual chicken!

She's got a point, if chicken was that dangerous so as to give you food poisoning just by touching the outside of the packaging, it would never be allowed on supermarket shelves.

Yes, but he will be fine. It’s only like touching a shopping trolley or a packet of crisps on sale. There is no risk OP. Also not all chickens even carry salmonella or bacteria most are vaccinated against it in the UK. People can eat raw chicken and be fine plenty of times. Xx

But commenting ‘oh my days’ isn’t helping anyone is it, OP doesn’t need ridiculing for feeling worried over something. I think if a poster can’t say something reassuring they should find another thread to post on.

But what if people were picking their nose and then touched it or had some deadly illness? Seriously though, did anyone watch celebrity gogglebox last night? There was a programme with a man eating raw meat. It was disgusting.

Of course not. It’s the outside packaging. Nothing to worry about.

FWIW, even if a child actually ate a piece of completely raw chicken, they wouldn’t necessarily suffer any ill effects. Uncooked chicken carries a potential risk of food poisoning, not a guarantee.

I’d read online that campylobacter is on 34 percent of packaging so I was worried about that mainly!

i don't know what you're on about. I was asked a question. oh my days is my actual answer. Are posts supposed to be oh love it will be fine! Don't worry!! But maybe check with the 111 just in case?
Give over !

I'm not sure I agree, sometimes being reassuring is just pandering to someone's irrational fears. If people say don't be ridiculous you can see that you are being ridiculous on an anonymous forum without being humiliated in real life.

Don’t google things, googling confirms to your brain that there’s a problem to worry about. There isn’t. There’s germs in soft play, germs on petrol pumps, germs on door handles and tables in restaurants. Germs everywhere. Posting on here is also reassurance seeking, which I totally get but is classic contamination OCD. Look into it OP I think it will resonate. I suffer with OCD and have posted on here for reassurance previously under different username. Your worry right now is the type of thing I’d worry about. It’s just your brain playing tricks on you, scanning for perceived dangers in your environment. You will be ok I promise. Asking on here doesn’t always help though x

Right… but you could’ve just said, ‘I wouldn’t be worried’ or ‘he’ll be fine’ or just leave the post if you can’t come up with something nice? Idk.

I always fear that one of the chicken bags has leaked onto the one I buy so I'm always careful. You can't see bacteria!

Worst case scenario I'm sure there would only be a little drop of bacteria present if that were the case with yours OP. It'd likely be dripping with raw meat juices from burst bags so you'd know but I take your point.

So I'm thinking he'll be fine but like you I'd usually bag raw meat separately just in case it bursts/has been burst on,to avoid cross contamination.

That and anything else I don't want healing everywhere like bleach. I bag it separately too.

The rest all goes in together.

And bloody hell @FlyingSoap you said you have intrusive thoughts, anxiety and realise this as irrational

I do, but what good is just saying ‘you’re being irrational’

It’s not going to help her worry less

I think it just means "I'm from London or Essex", doesn't it?

Also OP if it’s helpful I like to use the ‘so what/even if’ strategy with worries like this.

DS touched a sealed packet of chicken. There’s a very tiny chance that it would’ve leaked any bacteria onto the packet. Touching bacteria does not guarantee the bacteria will transfer onto your hands.

Even if it did, he probably touched something else which transferred the (hypothetical) bacteria onto there.

Even if he didn’t, and he put his hand in his mouth, most chickens in the UK don’t carry any food poisoning bacteria as they are vaccinated against.

Even if that one chicken somehow did, he’s not guaranteed to get ill from it. His immune system would deal with it

Even if he got unwell, he’d be sick for a few days and then fine soon after.

Ok. How about you tell me what to post the next time an irrational (imo) thread asks for an opinion from my rational (imo) mind. I could scroll past of course but I, rationally (imo) don't think a pacifying post is helpful. If my daughter, friend, anyone asked the question I would have said the same.

Okay, fair enough. I apologise if I’ve taken your post sensitively, I guess it’s hard to work out intended tone online