Hand washing before eating?

[Ninetwenty]

I know, it's something we should do, I always made DC do it when they were young.

But AIBU to think that, IRL it doesn't actually happen?

I eat out frequently, with everyone from business contacts, colleagues, friends and family. People from all sorts of cultures. Not once has anyone excused themselves to wash their hands before eating.

Colleagues will eat lunch at their desks. No one goes to wash their hands first.

When I have people to eat at mine, no one goes to wash their hands when invited to the table.

Wedding or party buffets, no one is going off to wash their hands once the buffet opens.

Etc etc.

Not at home but when out I use sanitizer every time

Firstly, most men don't even wash their hands after having a piss. I have unfortunately always worked with the public. First thing I do when I get home is wash my hands. Obviously after using the loo and after every messy job. But no, not before eating.

I use hand sanitiser before eating but only since my cancer diagnosis.

I always wash my hands before eating with my hands or if I’m out use wipes.
unfortunately it’s not your hygiene you have to worry about it’s other peoples!
if you’ve been in a public place touching things then hundreds of people have touched it before you. Sneezed over it etc.
My son is always telling me about men not washing their hands in public toilets.
its not just Covid most bugs can be passed around by poor hand hygiene including food poisoning

I don’t do it at all. I thought about it the other day at a meeting. I’d just met a new colleague so we shook hands then went to the buffet and it was all finger foods. I didn’t consider it at the time but afterwards thought we easily could have just given one another a virus without thinking.

i always wash my hands before I eat, and I carry Milton foam hand sanitiser for using before eating when out and about.

Come to think of it the only place I was always told to go and wash my hands before eating as a child was at my Indian grandparents house, but they did eat primarily with their hands.

I do still wash my hands before eating something without cutlery, or hand gel if I’m out. If I cooked the handheld food I’d wash them before cooking, after touching the bin, raw meat etc, but not again before eating.

I always wash my hands before eating, and it not possible, I carry hand sanitiser with me to give them a clean that way.

My mum brought me up to always wash my hands before eating, but at some point as a young adult I stopped and I never do it now. It doesn't seem to matter - I am almost never ill.

Ugh people are pretty disgusting. I see it a lot at restaurants/ buffets for example, people coughing straight out over the food table or in their hands and then help themselves to food. With the same spoons as everyone else has to touch.. Or cough in their hands and then touch door handles etc. Have they no common sense? This is why germs and diseases spread.. I loved it during Covid.
I always carry hand sanitizer and wipes

That’s what hand sanitiser is for.

I always was my hands before eating if I can. At work I go to the toilet before eating. Most people do go to the toilet at lunchtime so that does cover washing hands, just might not be obvious.

If I’m at someone’s house I would try and wash my hands before eating if I can, but when out and about you can’t always wash them, but if that’s the case I’d use anti-bacterial spray that I keep in my bag and then try not to touch the actual food (I’d hold in the wrapper if possible). In a restaurant there’s always a toilet so usually go after ordering to wash my hands.

Maybe I wash mine too much, but when out and about in shops or public transport I can’t wait to wash my hands as they just feel dirty.

I always wash my hands before eating. Yes in restaurants (after ordering). Yes at friends’ houses. Yes at home (even if a snack). Certain places have minging toilets so I always have hand sanitiser and panda bamboo wipes.

I agree that almost everyone does not wash their hands and I think that is their choice.

I always carry hand gel and use it before I eat when I am out. When I go out with my friends, one of us with bring out the bottle and we all pass it around. I will go and wash my hands if no hand gel and I wash my hands at other people's house first.
I once ate a cake in a supermarket cafe and realised half way through I hadn't washed my hands. I had been pushing the trolley round the shop before I went in the cafe. That night, I got the most horrendous bug.

I am slightly (more than slightly) obsessed with hand hygiene.

yes, sadly you we probably right. I got very upset with DM over this the other day. We want to the pub for lunch. We placed out order then I went to wash my hands. DM didn’t. DM incidentally has a degree in biochemistry and used to work as a clinical biochemist in a hospital, so understands far more about germs than the rest of us. I ordered dessert but she didn’t. When my dessert came she grabbed some of it off the plate with her fingers. I didn’t mind her taking some, in fact I was expecting it, but I was very upset that she put her unwashed hands in my food. She claimed it was ok because she had washed her hands immediately before leaving home (40 minutes before arriving at the pub). I told her that wasn’t good enough and to use cutlery next time.

I try as much as I can. At home everyone washes their hands as soon as they get in and before we sit down to eat. At work I grab my lunch from the kitchen and wash my hands while I am there. I ask kids to do the same at school but I doubt it happens. When out and about I bring wipes and hand sanitiser (for example if we're heading to a park after school). I hate sickness bugs and that's always at the back of my mind!

Hand sanitizers are all very well but they don't kill non-enveloped viruses like norovirus and rotavirus.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2012/01/examining-the-effectiveness-of-hand-sanitizers.html

But still better than not washing them at all.

You know a lot of gross unhygienic people then. It's basic hygiene to wash hands before eating, before preparing food, after toilet etc.

I notice this too but I love having clean hands. First thing I do when I get home is wash my hands, even if I’m not eating. I just feel mucky if I don’t. When I’m at work I usually eat in the canteen and wash my hands on the way there. Usually at a restaurant I would wash my hands but if I’d come straight there from home in the car then maybe not. At the airport this week the first thing I did after security was wash my hands. Always have hand sanitiser in my bag.

it grosses me out when people leave toilet cubicles and don’t wash their hands. I have a family member on DH’s side who is a paramedic and their lack of handwashing in general makes me feel really uncomfortable - just hope it’s different when at work!