Cold water is fine for washing hands - soap and vigor are the critical components
“Hot water for handwashing has not been proved to remove germs better than cold water.”
That’s the conclusion of The Claim column in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times science section.
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We’ve been saying for a couple of years that water temperature is not a critical factor -- water hot enough to kill dangerous bacteria and viruses would scald hands -- so use whatever is comfortable. Warmer water may be better at removing oils and stuff, but not the things that make people sick.
The Times story says,
In its medical literature, the Food and Drug Administration states that hot water comfortable enough for washing hands is not hot enough to kill bacteria, but is more effective than cold water because it removes oils from the hand that can harbor bacteria.
But in a 2005 report in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, scientists with the Joint Bank Group/Fund Health Services Department pointed out that in studies in which subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had “no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction.”
They found no evidence that hot water had any benefit, and noted that it might increase the “irritant capacity” of some soaps, causing contact dermatitis.
“Temperature of water used for hand washing should not be guided by antibacterial effects but comfort,” they wrote, “which is in the tepid to warm temperature range. The usage of tepid water instead of hot water also has economic benefits.”
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Wienermobile enters home, wasn't invited
Although it’s National Hot Dog month, it’s been a lousy couple of weeks for Oscar Mayer.
On July 7, 2009, Oscar G. Mayer, retired chairman of the Wisconsin-based meat processing company that bears his name, died at the age of 95.
He was the third Oscar Mayer in the family that founded Oscar Mayer Foods, which was once the largest private employer in Madison. His grandfather, Oscar F. Mayer, died in 1955 and his father, Oscar G. Mayer Sr., died in 1965.
Mayer retired as chairman of the board in 1977 at age 62 soon after the company recorded its first $1 billion year. The company was later sold to General Foods and is now a business unit of Kraft.
Besides the actual hot dogs, Oscar Mayer is well-known for its Wienermobile. Amy saw it once on the back roads of Missouri. My kids had the plastic replicas (thanks, John).
Yesterday, Wienermobile was turning around in a Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, driveway, about 35 miles south of Milwaukee. The driver thought her wiener was in reverse but it was in drive. No one was home and no one was injured. No citations were immediately issued.
India: Red hot chillis to be used in hand grenades
India's security forces are planning to mix one of the world's hottest chilli powders in hand grenades to control riots and during insurgency operations in the remote northeast.
India's defense scientists say they will replace explosives in small hand grenades with a certain variety of red chilli to immobilize a person without killing him.
Scientists said the chilli found in the country's northeast generates so much heat it was enough to startle a person for a while when used as a weapon.
The bhut jolokia chilli is said to generate 1,000,000 heat units on the Scoville scale -- a measure of hotness -- at least a thousand times more than a common kitchen chilli.
The Scoville scale was named after American scientist Wilbur Scoville, the first to measure the heat component in chillies.
What does Obama eat?
In a fantastic combination of celebrity and food porn, the Globe and Mail reports on U.S. President-elect Obama's favorite foods -- sort of.
There was a lot of guessing that went into this hard-hitting investigative journalism:
Early last year, when the Obamas said pizza from Italian Fiesta Pizzeria in Chicago was their favourite, co-owner Patti Harris-Tubbs says people called her up to say, "I'll have whatever Obama likes." But Ms. Harris-Tubbs isn't sure which pie that is.
"Our most popular is cheese and sausage," she tells them. "I guess I would have to go with that."
Eddie Gehman Kohan, the Los Angeles freelance writer behind the Obama Foodorama blog, says she doesn't know, either.
She points to a New York Times interview with Reggie Love, Mr. Obama's right-hand man, who was quoted as saying the boss's favourite foods are Dentyne Ice, Nicorette, pistachios and MET-Rx chocolate-roasted peanut protein bars.
"Part of the fascination with food is trying to pinpoint who is he? How can we define him, how can we understand him?" Ms. Gehman Kohan says.
One thing the food paparazzi does know is that Obama likes his hot sauce. Ms. Gehman Kohan was cited as saying, "He puts it on everything, he carries a bottle with him.He's shown he can handle the heat. At least so far."
Here's a nice clip of food critic Barack from a 2001 local TV food show in Chicago.
UK chef dies after eating 'super hot' chili
Amy and I were in Kansas City and surrounding area last weekend. We’re working with some high school kids in Olathe, Kansas, which is geographically to Kansas City what Brampton is to Toronto, except a lot nicer.
Sunday we had some time, checked out the big city baby stores for the impending birth, and I found out everything I knew 20 years ago was completely irrelevant, so we went to dinner.
The meal came with a hot pepper on the side of my fish and veggies. Having flipped through some food porn – is there a better way to watch than fast-forwarding – I thought I heard that the hot part was in the seeds and stems, and if trimmed away, the hotness would be more manageable.
I was wrong.
So was Andrew Lee, 33, who challenged his girlfriend's brother to a contest on September 19 to see who could make and eat the hottest sauce.
He died.
The forklift driver from Edlington, West Yorkshire in England, made a tomato sauce with red chillies grown by his father, but after eating it suffered intense discomfort and itching.
Mr Lee went to bed and asked his girlfriend, Samantha Bailey, to scratch his back until he fell asleep.
When she woke in the morning he was dead, possibly after suffering a heart attack, The Guardian said.
Red hot chili closes London roads, burns throats
Extra-hot bird's eye chilies that had been left dry-frying at the Thai Cottage restaurant sparked road closures and evacuations in central London after passers-by complained that a chemical emanating from a Thai restaurant was burning their throats.Associated Press reported that the London Fire Brigade sent a chemical response team, closed off roads, sealed buildings and donned special breathing masks to ferret out the source of the acrid smell as onlookers coughed.
A police spokesman said that no one was arrested, adding, "As far as I'm aware, it's not a criminal offense to cook very strong chili."
Angela Dodd, guest barfblogger: No pee zone
I kicked off last weekend with some classmates -- drinks were flowing and the food was disappearing as fast as it could be cooked. Since everyone seemed to be hungry, plates were of no need. As I stood there eating my food I couldn’t help but notice what was going on just across my shoulder.
One gentleman had found out how quickly selected beverages run through the body. He had made his way to the fence to relieve himself (since using a toilet would be way to civilized) and decided to place his uneaten hot dog in his mouth in order to free up his hands for other uses. After the job was done, he found it perfectly normal to take the hot dog back out of his mouth and continue eating his dinnerProbably not much of a risk for others, but certainly a yuck factor.
“Don’t Eat Poop, Wash Your Hands”.
Angela Dodd is a Senior in Food Science at Kansas State University -- and she washes her hands after peeing.
