Ew.

Wash your hands! Wash your hands! Wash your hands! Wash your hands when you go to the bathroom. Wash your hands when you shake someone else's hand. If you haven't washed your hands twice today already, go wash your hands now...... Go ahead....... I'll wait........ Done? Good. A vast amount of foodborne illnesses can be avoided by merely washing your hands. As you may have guessed, today was "The Wonders of Bacteria Day" in Sanitation class - affectionately known by Miss Jane as "DVJ Day", and boy was it gross.

Feel like buying some "fresh caught" shrimp out of the back of a pickup next time you're at the coast? "Hello, Hepatitis A!" Or how about some tomatoes or watermelons out of the nice man's trailer on the side of the highway? "Sup, Salmonella?" Like your Chili's Old Timer medium rare? "'Ello, E. Coli!" Last one: Want to keep those extra baked potatoes for tomorrow's potato salad? "Bonjour, Botulism!"

Don't keep leftover rice. Don't keep leftover baked potatoes. Keep your food below 41º or above 135º - otherwise it's in the "Danger Zone" (71º-135º is the "MAJOR Danger Zone"). Reheat leftovers to 165º. Bacteria can grow from 1 to over 1 billion in 10 hours. Gross. Cough or sneeze into your elbow; not your hands. I'll skip over the parasite section. You're welcome. Don't pick your own mushrooms - as fun as that may sound to some of you, the trip to the hospital may not be the trip you're looking for. Sorry Mrs. Blackstock, "the trip for which your are looking".

Why all these rules? Why so many "don'ts"? Have you figured out why Miss Jane calls it "DVJ Day?". The "D" and "V" should be pretty obvious - remember the last time you got some slightly undercooked chicken? Yea; you know what I'm talking about. The "J" is jaundice (not near as common these days, but still out there).

SPOILED ALERT (get it?): The title of the post is "Ew". So here's some Ew for ya:

Anisakiasis (ANN-ih-SAH-KYE-ah-sis) is a parasite that can be transferred by consuming raw or undercooked herring, cod, halibut, mackerel or Pacific salmon that is less than sushi grade. It causes a tingling in your throat.

And you cough up worms. GOOD NIGHT! ......and wash your hands.