Clean Food (1957) Pt. 1 of 3

the well today is very much a world of signposts signposts of all shapes and sizes and colors they dot our streets and highways for example and tell us when to stop and when to go to go along this street and not to wait on that side to halt as there's a major road ahead and not to turn right at that corner they pinpoint the danger spots and accident areas there are excellent areas and other walks of life too although not signposted that piece of cooked meat could be an accident area it looks all right it smells all right and apparently there's nothing wrong with the taste in other words it's the kind of cooked meat that can be brought in hundreds of shops up and down the country but for all that it is an accident area and a fairly serious one to that cooked meat put the boy to bed with a dangerously high temperature and the bouts of sickness vomiting and diarrhea gave his mother and the doctor a worrying time of it for a day or two a very worrying time indeed something in the meat gave the boy food poisoning that something was a germ and germs invisible to the naked eye are often highly dangerous part of the danger lies in the tremendous speed with which food poisoning microbes multiply it takes only 20 minutes or so for one germ to become too by splitting in half a further 20 minutes for two to become for four to become eight and so on this means that one germ can multiply and become a quarter of a million germs in six hours or seven thousand million germs in 12 hours just as the number of road accidents can be cut down by strict observance of the Highway Code so the number of harmful germs and the risk of food poisoning can be greatly reduced by following a food code since germs enter food mainly through people handling it personal cleanliness is essential and personal cleanliness means among other things clean hands every time you sit down to a meal at home in the school dining room or in the factory canteen you should wash your hands and wash them suddenly for soap and water are the great enemies of harmful microbes the safest place for germs is down the waste pipe washing the hands before handling food is even more necessary and important than washing them before eating it carelessness on the part of this canteen assistant for example would lead to dangerous consequences for she helps to prepare meals daily for scores of workers in a big factor in unless her hands are spotlessly clean and remember it isn't possible to see germs with the naked eye she can easily communicate the invisible microbes on her fingers to the food she is handling and so be responsible in all innocence for an outbreak of food poisoning among the factory workers washing the hands also means brushing the nails done live nails should be kept short long nails harbored dirt and are difficult to keep clean varnished nails should also be kept short and clean