Political Correctness?

Courier Countryside Column 11^th October 2013

Coming to the table with Clean Hands

The Secretary of our Community Orchard Association got an unexpected phone call the other day.  It was from the Environmental Health Officer at Tunbridge Wells.  They’d somehow heard we were having an orchard open day with a BBQ, apple picking and juicing and produce for sale. And they were worried.

“Your volunteers and visitors are at risk from harmful bacteria such as E.Coli 0157 which can cause haemolytic uraemic syndrome and has been associated with unpasteurized apple juice,” she told us in a follow up letter. “I suggest signage to encourage visitors to wash their hands before eating, drinking and smoking.  I have enclosed a poster on how visitors should wash their hands.”

And she had. It had six diagrams of Hand Washing Techniques ranging from (1) Palm to Palm, to (6) Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards, with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa. (I particularly liked the addition of a little Latin.)

Now don’t get me wrong. I am as keen as anyone to avoid food poisoning. Apart from anything else it’s bad for business. But reading through the literature I began to wonder if perhaps this wasn’t all going a bit far.  I mean, I DO KNOW how to wash my hands.  I’ve been doing it for around half a century.  And the enclosed 30 page glossy booklet from the Food Standards Agency on food hygiene for businesses also had the habit of stating the blindingly obvious: “It is extremely important to make sure that food is cooked properly.” Er.  Yes.  I think we knew that. 

So here’s the dilemma.  If you are cooking anything whether in your kitchen, or on a BBQ you must surely be aware of basic food safety rules.  They’re taught at you mother’s (or father’s) knee.  Without knowing them you and your family would have spent an awful lot of time being ill.  So do we really need nannying exhortations from national and local government? How much tax-payers money are we spending on these reminders which appear to treat us as morons?  How could the human race have survived and, indeed, flourished over the millennia without such advice having been proffered? 

Oh dear, I fear I’m sounding like a crusty Colonel complaining about “political correctness gone maaaad”!  Perhaps anything that helps keep us healthier and safer is well worth the price.