Unclean utensils infect food in hospitals
This has reference to a front page report published on 23rd. September in a local English daily. Unfortunately, the writer put emphasis on the grime and dirt in the hospital kitchen, and the infected food served. The fact of the matter is that this dirt or unclean environment of the personnel or the place has practically nothing to do with germs in the cooked food!
The actual problem is the issue of cleanliness of the crockery, cutlery and the personnel involved with the delivery of the cooked food! Please note that despite squalid and dirty environment in which the food is made ready for cooking, there is practically no possibility of any germ infecting the food cooked! The simple reason is that over 99.999 percent of germs are killed at over 80 degree Centigrade temperature.
Almost all cooking involves temperatures of over 100 degree Centigrade, the boiling point of water, which actually kills all germs. Germs get into the food chain when the cooled cooked food is set out in pots and plates and these are put on the delivery trays at slightly above room temperatures, when germs from the air and environment can get into the cooked food!
Unfortunately this basic scientific fact is not known to most of us, including hospital staff responsible for dishing out the cooked food and then delivering it to the patients. This is the area that needs all the care and attention to minimise the chances of infection to the patients.
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