OT - Errr, On 2nd Thought, We'd Better Hold The Lemon

Someone sent me a real eye-opening T.V. investigative report on those lemon slices they give you with your drinks in restaurants ..  I myself usually load up on them to  (1) make my iced tea more flavorable (2) get my "real" Vit. C. in and (3) most importantly, to help take the edge off my appetite ..  I think a lot of people order them w. water to save on their meal cost , since soft drinks now typically run $2-3 w. a meal ..

  The station's reporter hired a microbiologist to sample and analyze the lemons from 22 local restaurants at random and unannonced for samples of bacterial contamination.  The biologist found that three out of four of the lemons were contaminated with disease-causing strains of bacteria, varying from that strain responsible for staph infections to even those from fecal contamination ..   < CLUNK >

   Apparently the problem results mainly from restaurant employees using their bare hands to put the lemons on the glasses (or in a bowl w. them), instead of using clean tongs for the job ,as required by the health codes  ..   The contamination often came from bacteria contained under the fingernails of the employees, the biologist opined ..  

  < UGH! >

Does the acid not kill it ?

Good point,  Nick ..  And someone mentioned it on the main forum (that lemon juice is highly acidic and a natural antibacterial) ..  I would think if the germs were just on the rind part of the wedge, b/c the employee only touched the rind (and you didn't immerse the lemon wedge in the drink) the contamination of food would not happen ..  But the report seemed to indicate this doesn't keep the germs from still going into the drink when you squeeze the lemon over it ..  and apparently the lemon juice is too diluted in the drink to effectively kill the bacteria once in there ..  &:-/)

Anytime management of a food service establishment isn't vigilant in enforcing handwashing and sanitary food handling policies, contamination happens.   I can't believe how many guys I've seen in public restrooms who don't wash their hands AT ALL after exiting a stall or walking away from a urinal.  It's really disgusting.  I NEVER touch any surfaces after I've washed my hands well -- sometimes this gets challenging, if its the type of bathroom with only hot air blowers and no paper towels and a tricky door handle.  I also carry hand sanitizer. If this type of thing grosses you out, one good solution is to carry packets of ReaLemon powder -- it's freeze dried lemon juice in little tiny packets.  Tastes just like fresh when you put it in water, and a 1/4 teaspoon packet does a large glass of water.  Just tell your server PLAIN WATER ONLY, NO LEMON. Also, hate to break it to you, our local station here tested restaurant ice recently, and much of it was contaminated.  You can't win.

 yep ..  one of our DFW stations did the ice thing a couple of years back and that was even scarier ...  it mentioned that some harmful bacteria can really thrive on ice, which, if anything, seems to "prolong" their lives .   &8- O)   I mentioned on the main forum how I never see anymore the little packets of lemon juice that restaurants used to give out when you asked for "lemon', thinking maybe they don't make those anymore ..  good to see they are still around (and  - in dried form now?)!   the restroom thing reminded me of the old military joke about marines vs. sailors (or something like that):  a marine and a sailor are taking a keak and then both zip up and get ready to leave the latrine ...  the marine goes to wash his hands, but notices the sailor is about to leave without doing so .. the disgusted marine barks at the sailor, "in the corps they teach us to wash our hands after using the latrine, sailor!", to which the sailor responds, "in the navy, they teach us not to **** on our hands" ..    &:-D)  

Thank goodness for immune systems and for our ability to put our faces in places with even higher bacterial content than that of the ice or the lemons! Rrrrr!

I make this same point at work all the time. If a man will stick his face in the hairy end of a gut, (*****), then what in the world could he complain about eating anything?  There is one guy at work that doesn't like cheese. Said it is the most gross thing he has ever tried to eat. I asked him if he had oral sex with his wife. He said yes. I told him that a man that will eat ***** should eat about any thing. And yes I do and I will try about any thing once.  I think a lot of people have become germ o phobes. I think we would all be healthier if we let our immune systems work like they are supposed to. I know a woman that carries around one of those little bottles of sanitizer and is using it all day. I would really like to tell her to lighten up a few germs might do her some god.  pan head