To use a washed-up raw meat knife

[CuppaDog]

DP and I had a big dispute regarding a hygiene issue. As these happen regularly, I'd love to get a sense check from this esteemed audience.

I cut DD (10)'s bread roll with a kitchen knife. That knife was used to cut raw chicken on the day before and subsequently washed up and has been dry overnight.

The strongly expressed demand was that I immediately throw away the bread roll, and that this is "common sense".

YABU - Using a raw meat knife for directly eaten food is never acceptable, even if it has been washed up
YANBU - It's fine to use a raw meat knife as long as it has been washed up

We pour boiling water over plates, knives and chopping boards that have had raw meat on them and then just wash them with everything else. Certainly don’t have specific knives(although probably wouldn’t use a bread knife for anything other than bread)

In a commercial kitchen they use separate boards and utensils for cooked food and raw meat.
But in the home, it's not necessary as long as you wash it properly in hot soapy water.
Most people use the same knives for both, I know I do. And I have a food hygeine certificate. I know, get me! It's my highest level of qualification so I'm pretty sad really.

We have a butchers block we chop everything on, we’re still alive lol never had food poisoning or anything else from it…….

If having this separation is apparently so important to DD, surely you would have to have agreed which are the raw meat knives & which are not? Otherwise how would either of you know what the other has used each knife for previously. Sounds bonkers to me though, as previous posters have said never seen this even in professional kitchens.

It's fine.
I've done a food handling cert.

Store uncooked or thawing chicken low down on fridge shelf. It won't drip on other food.
Use separate raw meat chopping board and knife.
Wash knife before using again for any purpose.
Wash chopping board before using again for raw meat..

Store cooked chicken, covered, higher up in fridge.

I boil some hot water in a kettle and pour it over anything I used for raw meat.
If you just use soapy sponge then that sponge will become a perfect breeding ground for bacteria from the meat. So it will be the sponge which will be dirty and then you will use it to wash something else.

While parasites in the meat are rare these days they can also be extremely dangerous and people can have them for a long time before they develop any serious symptoms.

I think it's the case of awareness to be honest. The more awareness you have the more careful you become. If you don't know what can happen you just don't think about it.

Maddest thread of the day 😂

All our knives are interchangeable. Never had food poisioning. It’s never even occurred to me people have separate knives.

i think you should throw away the washing up bowl too if the knife has been in there 😂

I am a big germophobe but that wouldn’t even bother me.

Then this is completely different and you need to agree whether you will follow this practice in your house or not.

Yes, that women who got parasites in her brain from using same chopping board for everything also was absolutely fine until one day she wasn't.

Of course it happens rarely but not everyone wants to risk it and that's fine. We all have different tolerance to unnecessary risk.

Meanwhile you could get hit by a bus tomorrow.

If the knife has been washed in hot soapy water, it is clean and fine to use
It's not supposed to be disposable!

Yes of course I could. But I take care while crossing the road and there is a huge benefit for me using public space and getting from A to B so it's a risk worth taking as many other risks in life.

On other hand pouring hot water on items I use for raw meat takes one minute and I have no benefit from keeping those items contaminated so it's a senseless risk I can easily avoid. Especially that parasites often have no obvious symptoms so people walk around with them for ages until damage is done.

They are not even remotely same situations for me.

Same here!

Although I do have a dishwasher to make sure its all cleaned very well

What about if you touch raw meat? Is washing your hands enough? Or must you cut them off

He got issues x

He’s confused, the reason people/kitchens use didferent knives for raw/cooked etc is so they don’t get cross contaminated before they’re washed up. if something is clean it’s fine

It was clean. That's what washing-up does. I hope you told your DP to stuff it.

So by his logic you can’t add veg to a frying pan that’s had meat in previously? This is very odd. Sounds borderline MH.

I’m plant based and I have severe contamination OCD but even I use the same knives for veg and raw meat once they’ve been through the dishwasher or been washed in hot soapy water (although preferably dishwasher in my case).

Pouring hot or even boiling water over things won't kill parasites. To kill pathogens with boiling water alone the item would need to be kept at a rolling boil for at least one minute. The water might rinse some of the pathogens away but cold water would do the same job. If you're concerned about the sponge you can soak it in diluted bleach for 10 minutes or so.

I’m assuming the board wasn’t cleaned properly, but presumably this knife was? Bit of a reach there….

Cut them off, throw hands away...

Common sense surely!

OP YANBU, however I think YAB a bit U to use a kitchen knife instead of a bread knife to cut a bread roll