TOT: food hygiene

As a side issue, TV adverts for steam mops and steam cleaners for kitchens/bathrooms. show them being wafted around quickly with claims of killing germs, bacteria etc. I remember seeing the (very) small print at the bottom of the screen stating the claims were only valid if the steam was applied to the same area for 60 seconds or more.

One of the better ways of preserving food is to subject it to hard radiation.

You have to look hard for the little symbol on it...

When "Mythbusters" tested hygiene myths, they blasted the samples with radiation at a local hospital.

This sounds like one for the ASA.

How long does it take to slice up a cabbage? Surely, that's easier than traipsing off to another supermarket.

It's possible that the ASA that made them include the small print at the bottom of the screen when the advert was on.

Or you can do it from the inside! :-)

It is but although I have not seen the ad, it sounds non-compliant to me.

In a Victorian recipe it describes red kidney beans as poisonous unless cooked properly. The cooking advice is "boil furiously for at least 10 minutes". A more modern recipe says always use tinned red kidney beans because they have had all the poison cooked out.

But is the ASA effective? It has recently been criticised for breaking its own rules on advertising!

The first time I made chilli con carne I didn't know you had to keep the kidney beans on a rolling boil for at least 25 minutes, and, shall we say, had a very uncomfortable night. I nearly blamed the local butcher (who was very good indeed) for selling dodgy mince!

A few years ago, my mum bought herself a new steam mop, and gave me the old one as a hand-me-down, I later inherited the new one too. They are both bloody useless for cleaning a bathroom or kitchen ...

Much like a lot of wonder products advertised on TV but then disappear from sale a couple months afterwards :)

I purchased one of those spray mops with the large microfibre cleaning cloth/pad. It seemed to work until I used it on a very light coloured cushion floor. First time with new pad it successfully picked up minor surface dirt. It was only used for a minute. Second use with the same pad and I noticed that the pad was dropping the dirt in a line at the end of each stroke. A few more uses with replacement pads and I came to the conclusion that the microfibre pads can only pick up a small amount of surface dirt and once this small threshold is reached it deposits it back on the floor, but as a very thin line every time the pad comes to a stop and reverses direction. On a darker floor this probably wouldn't be noticed. The Tv adverts show whole floor being moped. My experience suggests that the microfibre pad would have to be changed 4x to actually clean the floor near properly. In TV advertising world a wonder product. In the real world a product that doesn't work well. For reuse the pads have to be recycled through the washing machine. What is advertised as a quick job becomes more time consuming.

I wonder if those steam mops with a microfibre head advertised for carpet "refreshing" just lift surface dirt and later just push it deep into the pile.

I have concluded that an air fryer is exactly that

I will be chucking my SH one in a skip when I get a Round Tuit.

Well as they have been on sale for over 10 years already, I think its unlikely they will disappear any time soon.

Dave

Really? First you have to buy the cabbage which is large & heavy (compared to a tub of coleslaw). Then you have to buy the other ingredients - more expense. Then there is the preparation time. Then you have to find a way to use all the excess expensive ingredients. The traipse is approx 200 yards & although driving, is on the route home. No thanks.

I have just won a brand-new air fryer in a raffle! How about that?

To be honest, it was at a local community bring-and-buy sale and I just bought raffle tickets as one does. I had no idea what the prizes were before I bought the tickets.

I've donated it to the local homeless charity. The philosophical question here - which ought to appeal to a natural philosopher - is whether having known in advance what the prize was ought to have made any difference? After all, the purpose of buying tickets in this context IMO is to donate to the cause, not to win prizes. So, not wanting an air fryer, had I known what the prize was, should I have entered the raffle anyway in order to donate the prize? Or should I have spent the money there in other ways?

Nick

I've never had that problem with chilli con carne. Surely it's just a matter of the temperature? A gentle, slowly bubbling simmer must be at (or very near) 100 C; I would simmer it for about an hour to cook the mince. And I've never suffered food poisoning as a result.

Only if you want *lot* of coleslaw. Or like boiled cabbage. Similarly I buy ready prepared stir fry veg as I don't require a vast quantity.