Just when you thought you had seen it all in the Qantas lounge...

[kyle]

And in Asia I have seen people put on a new pair of gloves each time they go to the buffet to get food. They were Japanese.

I love Japanese stuff, but the way they do things and how risk averse they are just annoys me to the nth degree

 

[Quickstatus]

he may have been clearly disorientated and distressed and not fully appreciative that Melbourne people are the best-dressed folk in the country

Or not. The QF jimjams were designed by a celebrity! and he thought it would therefore by appropriate in Melbourne's haute couture

Why must they get one from the very bottom and manhandle every other roll in the basket

Because they know the top rolls have been handled.

gloves

If people don't handwash prior to, and use the non touch technique to put on gloves, you might as well not put them on. (Think about the technique of putting on sterile gloves with clean but unsterile hands while maintaining the sterility of the gloves)

 

[Vic]

I was wedged between 1E and 1K and an absolute model passenger.



If that's the case, the Indian Continent and the Korean Peninsula have a long way to go. My lovely Indian friends eat with their hands, and at the odd Korean dinner I have attended, we all eat from the food on the table - yes, more than double dipping and I have never ended up in the Alfred or Royal North Shore.

Clearly a model pax, I don't even recall you on the flight. I did find the couple in 1A and 1E to be entertaining. They were wearing both a surgical mask and an N95 mask when they disembarked. lol
I was back in row 2 wondering if border force was going to let me keep my wooden gifts from the conference in India.

Indian food is best eaten with right hand. I always eat it that way at home. Out? Maybe.

Also Pakistan. That's a very important etiquette thing - the left had is used for abolitions and is unclean in those cultures. Hence you gotta eat with your right hand.

 

[offshore171]

not to get into a side debate about Covid which is even more triggering to some than tongs, but the whole

Since the discussion has gotten into the food handling in public buffets, here's something that I recall.

Maybe @drron can confirm, but in the food handling scenario, the highest concern around transmissible illnesses, isn't respiratory things like covid and flu.

But rather the biggest issue in these settings is norovirus and similar if I recall correctly

Grubs in the buffet is why noro has been ripping through cruise ships for decades -

 

[Pushka]

Since the discussion has gotten into the food handling in public buffets, here's something that I recall.

Maybe @drron can confirm, but in the food handling scenario, the highest concern around transmissible illnesses, isn't respiratory things like covid and flu.

But rather the biggest issue in these settings is norovirus and similar if I recall correctly

Grubs in the buffet is why noro has been ripping through cruise ships for decades -

I think Noro is airborne too? In the spray.

 

[Hvr]

the left had is used for abolitions...

The abolition of ablutions is essential.

 

[drron]

Though i was originally training as a respiratory physician. but in the last 16 years of my practice became a real general physician in rural and regional areas. But GI infections are the major problem with improper food handling.Here is a USDA article on foodborn illnesses. People may treat the subject lightly but many die each year from these illnesses.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/foodborne-illness-and-disease

Personally I identified a major salmonella outbreak from Griffith to Mildura by diagnosing the initial carrier who was a cook at a pub about midway between the two.
My personal involvement is looking out for Vibrio Vulcanificus as it is a bacteria that thrives particularly in high iron situations so those of us with Haemochromatosis are at a higher risk. often comes from eating oysters which I love. I became well aware of all the possible symptoms and have diagnosed several cases. Usually occurs in tropical and subtropical climates but i diagnosed a case that originated in Tasmania. The fellow had the typical skin rash. He was a commercial sea urchin diver. Sea urchins live on oysters. A short search revealed that oysters from St. helens had been found to contain vibrio vulcanificus and he operated out of St. Helens.

 

[Pushka]

Though i was originally training as a respiratory physician. but in the last 16 years of my practice became a real general physician in rural and regional areas. But GI infections are the major problem with improper food handling.Here is a USDA article on foodborn illnesses. People may treat the subject lightly but many die each year from these illnesses.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/foodborne-illness-and-disease

Personally I identified a major salmonella outbreak from Griffith to Mildura by diagnosing the initial carrier who was a cook at a pub about midway between the two.
My personal involvement is looking out for Vibrio Vulcanificus as it is a bacteria that thrives particularly in high iron situations so those of us with Haemochromatosis are at a higher risk. often comes from eating oysters which I love. I became well aware of all the possible symptoms and have diagnosed several cases. Usually occurs in tropical and subtropical climates but i diagnosed a case that originated in Tasmania. The fellow had the typical skin rash. He was a commercial sea urchin diver. Sea urchins live on oysters. A short search revealed that oysters from St. helens had been found to contain vibrio vulcanificus and he operated out of St. Helens.

Thankfully my son who has haemochromatosis doesn't like oysters.

 

[Quickstatus]

I think Noro is airborne too? In the spray.

Technically, the mode of transmission is called the faecal-oral route...

Page 9 onwards

Basically these pages just confirm that First Class has nothing to do with Class. But for some reason people want it to be Classy. I can't see how this can be achieved as the entry conditions do not included anything to do with Class

 

[RichardMEL]

Technically, the mode of transmission is called the faecal-oral route...

oh yum. and this is exactly one of the concerns with public buffets/communal food.

and yes yes the bloody tongs, but again this is something the user can control. for example, if you pick up food items with tongs and put them on a plate that you intend to eat from with your fingers, you have the option to wash or sanitise your own hands after collecting food, but before eating (if you are concerned about such things - which of course would be a very small number of people) OTOH if people handle items directly then the individual coming along has no option/opportunity to clean their hands to any bacteria left behind.

it may be a minor distinction but signifcant when looking at it from a potential infection control point of view.

and yes, I know that the realities are that even if a high percentage of people do the right thing in terms of handling there's always going to be that chance that something can get in the food. And let's not forget a more general issue of things like deli meats in such an environment and ensuring proper chilling etc to avoid problems there. I guess because I'm in a situation where infection prevention is more important, I've had a bit more awareness over the years of some of the issues with buffets (another big one is food left in luke warm bain maries as a great environment for bacteria o grow and so on).

And no, I don't wash my hands after using tongs and ladles - like 99.9$ of people wouldn't, but it is something that gives each person one more possible step to protect themselves should they wish. For me, I would use sanitiser if by the buffet before going and using tongs etc. However that's just me and I realise some would roll their eyes at this and think "clean freak" or something, but again I'm in a special personal medical situation that doesn't apply to most people. So judge away if you like - I like to protect my health in a common sense, but not obsessive way.

YMMV.

 

[Mr H]

However that's just me and I realise some would roll their eyes at this and think "clean freak" or something, but again I'm in a special personal medical situation that doesn't apply to most people. So judge away if you like - I like to protect my health in a common sense, but not obsessive way.

When I said "clean freak", I absolutely did not mean people who have good reason to need cleanliness. I specifically mean people who seem obsessed with minimising negligible or non-existent risk - particularly when their personal indulgence requires compliance action to be taken by others.

 

[Quickstatus]

user can control

The best thing that everyone can do is to wash hands before and after eating.

 

[Tropic]

Hence you gotta eat with your right hand.

And you dont ever want to get that mixed up...
I've had a barperson in bali mix my scotch and ice with their finger before serving with a smile..., a waiter in croatia serve my soup bowl with his thumb fully immersed..., and used a loo in a restaurant in Thailand with plates of just cooked fish cakes stacked on the concrete floor adjacent the wash basin...gotta love those local flavours

 

[Mr H]

And you dont ever want to get that mixed up...
I've had a barperson in bali mix my scotch and ice with their finger before serving with a smile..., a waiter in croatia serve my soup bowl with his thumb fully immersed..., and used a loo in a restaurant in Thailand with plates of just cooked fish cakes stacked on the concrete floor adjacent the wash basin...gotta love those local flavours

... and yet you survived!

 

[Sprucegoose]

I don't even recall you on the flight

I had two champers and then slept till my humble breakfast and then nodded off again until we got to the gate. Even the very attentive CSM reminded Mr Spruce to get more rest.

I did find the couple in 1A and 1E to be entertaining

I thought 1E was travelling alone; he was ahead of me at check-in.

I was back in row 2

You wouldn't have been in the middle then, as that was Alan and Maggie; they transferred off the late inbound QF2.

wondering if border force was going to let me keep my wooden gifts from the conference in India.

I tipped them off; how did you go? I know a place where you can get replacements in Hoppers Crossing.

 

[drron]

... and yet you survived!

But some people don't.
The WHO reports ~ 420000 deaths from food borne illness a year with ~ 30% of deaths in children under 5.

Estimating the burden of foodborne diseases

Around the world unsafe food is known to cause more than 200 acute and chronic diseases. In 2015, WHO published the first-ever estimates of global burden of foodborne diseases, which indicated that the 31 hazards examined were responsible for 600 million cases of foodborne diseases in 2010...

www.who.int

In the USA 128000 are hospitalised each year with ~ 3000 deaths.

Fast Facts About Food Poisoning

Lots of Americans get food poisoning. But you can take steps to stay safe.

www.cdc.gov

In Australia 4-5 million cases ,~ 32000 hospitalisations and an average of 86 deaths per year.

Six simple tips to keep you safe from food poisoning on food safety day

Food Safety Information Council releases the 2019 food safety report card.

www.thesenior.com.au

So maybe you need to start washing your hands.

 

[Sprucegoose]

non touch technique to put on gloves, you might as well not put them on. (Think about the technique of putting on sterile gloves with clean but unsterile hands while maintaining the sterility of the gloves)

That reminds me of an old Col Elliott joke that I certainly can't repeat on this forum!

he thought it would therefore by appropriate in Melbourne's haute couture

No, he was clearly distressed, and probably even more so since it took the luggage an hour to arrive.

 

[RichardMEL]

re hand hygiene. Everyone has different norms and nobody's minds will really be changed. Probably best to agree to disagree and get back on topic.

Now, what is the proper protocol for dealing with melons?

 

[Ade]

Now, what is the proper protocol for dealing with melons?

When life gives you melons, make melonade

 

[Julesmac]

I did a few years working in hospitality back when I was a uni student.

Our bistro had a number of bains-marie, which contained a range of stews, pasta dishes and the like. Each of these had a large ladle for self serving a portion onto your plate.

One of the semi regular customers was an older lady who used to come in on occasion.

She would taste test nearly every dish, directly off the serving ladle, and then put the ladle back into the stew or whatever in the bains-marie. If one of us caught her she would feign ignorance and say she didn't speak english.

I had these visions that we would one day find her false teeth in the stew at the end of the night (fortunately this never came to pass!)

Yikes!

All this talk about hands in food takes me back to the mid 60s and our domestic science teacher Miss Anderson. Dark red nail polish always in the same state of chipped-ness. Making pastry with red talons poking about in it and the odd fleck of polish you'd find. Absolutely gross. IIt scarred me for life - I've never made pastry since unless in a food processor