Thyphoid Mary/ Mat

Ever wonder what goes into your mouth? I'm not just talking about the food we cram down, but also what else is in it... Both better half and I have recently been given royal status, we've both been sitting on our throne's today, for a good part of the day. And it was all thanks to banana leaf cuisine courtesy of a well known restaurant in PJ yesterday. Anyway, the fact that this has happened to both of us recently and seems to occur with annoying frequency, prompts me to wonder...what is it the we are really eating? Does our food come with a side order of salmonella? Probably more frequently than not its some kind of Staph or other. But my point is, how clean is the food or drink that we consume?

The restaurant we went to is a favourite haunt for PJ folk, in fact many doctors in the nearby hospital frequent it. So why is it that although it seems clean, we still had trouble? Could it be the guy behind , in the kitchen didn't wash his hands thoroughly? Or maybe the waiter who served us was the one with the dirty hands? Or ....dare I say it, they recycle their curries from yesterday?

In fact, where I work, the standard of hygiene of the food court is deplorable. Why? Because not only can you see cockroaches running about at the stalls, a friend of mine had the unfortunate experience of almost gulping one down. How? It was in her nescafe. And of course, no one separates the hand that receives the money from the hand that serves the food and sometimes from the hand that prepares the food.

Dining in a more decent looking establishment doesn't necessarily mean that the food is cleaner. I've seen this at one of those Hong Kong styled snack outlets...the guy was sneezing, rubbing his hands on his nose and then lo and behold, makes a sandwich. And a popular fast food outlet, has a problem with rats, all in a mall.

I almost want to be as paranoid as Monk, with my hygienic wipes, my own utensils and such...but the reality is there is no one to check that the food we buy is safe. Yea sure, they had that restaurant grading thing a while ago...but I don't see any evidence of those plaques now. And besides, who cares about a plaque, when there's no one to actually inspect periodically? Perhaps its because we're asian, and more tolerant. Lets face it, we all forgot about the haze already, no? Or maybe we have more durable tummies and really don't think much about a bout of diarrhoea.

The sad truth is there isn't much we can do about it, other than chose not to eat at these places. The friend who complained about the roach? All she got was an explanation...it was in the ice, the delivery guy was dirty, etc, etc,etc. The truth may well be that the milk used is not stored properly and therefore attracts vermin.

Gosh, the throne beckons yet again...lets hope the next time I dine out, I'll be less unlucky.