A recent British survey has found that Computer keyboards are dirtier than toilet seats, so think before you pick up that crumb and eat it .

Oh yes indeed! Looks like I'm going to have to add 'clean keyboard' to my list of weekly household chores. Ordinarily it's not something you give a lot of thought to, but ignorance is no longer bliss!

Well I look at the fact that the dirt came off my fingers in the first place and I haven't died after licking my fingers, so what the hell, you only live once.

With all these new health warnings that are coming out I'm sure that most of them are only to keep some boffin in a job. It was once said that kids are not healthy unless they eat a pound of dirt before they turn three. While I don't say one should live in filth I think modern man takes hygiene too far sometimes.

When we bought our Lunch Bar we had to sit a `Food Handling and Food Safety' course at the local polytechnic. My goodness, do you learn a lot about germs and illness when doing this course.

And the information stays with you. I am very aware of how germs are transferred or caused now and I'm very particular when and where I buy prepared foods from eating places now.

Just because a coffee lounge has an `A' certificate hanging on their wall doesn't mean they are carrying out their food safety handling - or even have food handling skills.

An `A' means everyone on the premises has sat and passed the FH & FS exam. `B' means that only some staff members have sat the course and I wouldn't even consider eating at a place that has a `C' or below. In fact, they shouldn't be allowed to keep trading!

When we sold our shop the new owners had no food handling skills at all. As part of the sale conditions we had to train them in the way of food preparation (so they could produce food to sell) but they simply didn't want to know and there was nothing we could do about it.

They refused to use the sterilising machine to clean dishes (uses too much power and water), they used the same board to cut all foods on (food contamination big time!), cancelled the commercial cleaner, cancelled the oil vat filtering man, turned some of the fridges off at night

After 4 days of showing them how to do it properly (and the new owners making excuses as to why they didn't want to) I phoned the Health Inspector.

He told me that his department was trying to get `Food Handling and Food Safety' courses compulsory. A lot of new kiwis can't speak or understand English so they don't sit the exams.

If it was to happen, he said, it would take a couple of years to introduce. In the meantime people fall sick. Why don't they simply pass a law that says `no certificate / no business'?

The health inspector told us that if the health department closed down all the eateries that didn't comply with the law there would be hardly any shops open.

The new owner gets to keep the previous owners `A' grade certificate until the health inspector visits (despite the fact that they may not even have any food handling skills).

The health inspector visited our shop twice a year.

Recently it was proven that supermarket trolleys tested high for faeces and urine due to babies sitting in them. Thousands of people touch them every week before they are cleaned - and then you take your shopping into your home and place it on your bench surfaces.

Some market garden workers have been caught going to the toilet in between the rows of veges (rather than having to leave the field to go to the loo). Their waste splashes onto the growing food. Think about this when you next have lettuce and other greens.

We've all seen the shop assistant touch her hair, cough into her hand, handle money and then prepare your food, or continue making your food after they have served others with their plastic gloves on etc.

One can become paranoid about germs but if you have any concerns it's best to go somewhere else or buy a packaged item (one that has been sealed at a factory). Better safe than sorry.

On the other hand, there is an old adage that says `you've got to eat a bit of dirt before you die'.

Wow, thats got me thinking. My Mum is paranoid about the shopping trolleys. Germs germs germs. Another friend is extreme about handling money. Agree with both.

Thanks for your time in going over the older sites Going grey

Gem

I always wash my hands as soon as I get home from the supermarket. But in the meantime I have touched the car door, steering wheel, house door etc.
You can't win!

You are so right, geopelia.

Personally, you just have to be aware and try to prevent as much contamination as possible.

Washing your hands as soon as you get home is a good move.

I now keep a small tube of anti-bacterial wash in my purse. You can get slim-line `natural' ones from pharmacies (about $6) or there are tubes available in supermarkets.

I don't use it all the time, just after I've put my shopping in the car boot (and before I get into the car) or if I've handled an escalator railing and prior to eating food (if I'm out).

How long does a germ last when exposed to air, I wonder. Sneezing or coughing spreads colds and flu.
I had a laugh when my daughter was visiting. In a family gathering she asked if any of us sat on a public toilet seat? Of course the answer was unanimous. NO!! She then floored us by saying. " I do". Horrors." They must be clean, as no body else does" she said.

That colds are only spread by coughing and sneezing is the old way of thinking.

They have now proven that a cold virus readily transfers from the skin and hands of a cold sufferer to another person through the briefest of contact, not just through coughs and sneezes.

Also, cold viruses readily transfer as a result of touching a contaminated object or surface.

The health department have, for some time now, been promoting how important it is to wash ones hands to prevent the spread of colds and flu.

My two little Gr. Grandaughters are down , once again, this time with ear infections and on the antibiotic round. They spend two afternoons a week at an early childhood centre to give them interplay with others, as they are shy. I am thinking that these baby minding centres are the spawning ground for many ills both winter and summer. When you have to go to work and bring sick little ones in to the care centre it is not long before bugs spread.

Ironically I look back to that period in Russia when mothers were forced to work, and the babies were in care all day every day. Then it was said to be a communist shame to humanity. Today it is a voluntary action but instead of being shameful it is a human right and lawful to dump kids into care centres from infancy. How the wheel has turned.