Death to Canada!

[Brian Ellis]

OK, food hygiene is important but excessive food hygiene is worse for you than insufficient. A few bugs keeps your immune system updated.

I've travelled a lot in countries where food hygiene may be doubtful and took reasonable care. The only time I got the squits, Montezuma's revenge, Delhi belly or whatever was with a meal served on an internal flight in India (I suppose that one WAS called Delhi belly ). Most of my colleagues rarely had problems either, except for three Americans and a Swede, all of whom were ultra-careful and were all fanatics about food hygiene; they inevitably went down with the squits on every trip.

For the anecdote, when I was about 10, I was drinking a glass of milk and felt something solid in my mouth. I spat it out. It was a wood louse. Everyone in the family just laughed and I finished my milk. No one thought about suing the dairy that supplied the milk. Squeamishness is a modern disease, nurtured by lawyers.

[xortam]

I've done my share of adventurous dining: Steamed mussels beachside in Casa Blanca (Morocco); also lamb's brains. Octopus and ginger water from street vendors in Tokyo. Blood drenched lettuce and aging meat from a marginal refrigeration system aboard a week long bare-boat charter, etc.. You have to make due with the circumstances but I'd rather not be biting into unwashed produce from the grocer who just walked out of the bathroom. I've witnessed that a great number of males don't bother washing their hands after using the restroom, and many of those are exiting the toilet stalls.

P.S. The topic of excess hygiene reminds me of a master's thesis from a student at my University. This woman spent time with an African tribe studying and following their diet. She started feeling quite poorly after awhile and eventually discovered her error. The tribe's diet consisted almost fully of nuts which she fastidiously cleaned before eating. It turns out the tribe was getting most of their protein from the insects found in these nuts. Her cleanliness was robbing her of this vital nutrient. Valuable lessons can be learned from one's mistakes.

[KvHagedorn]

I seem to remember an episode of Coach where the team was visiting Buffalo for a playoff game, and Luther wanted some authentic Buffalo wings, so he went to a local sports bar and announced that he wanted twenty dozen wings for the team. Knowing that these wings would feed Buffalo's playoff opponents, the owner gave him tainted wings. Everyone who ate the wings got sick and they had to forfeit the game. The only one who didn't get sick? Luther (the Dr. said his system was probably used to eating tainted meat.)