There are two things to be mindful of: Food Poisoning and Food Intoxication.
Poisoning occurs from microbes (e.g. salmonella). Most are killed instantly at ~165F/74F, or at lower temperatures if those temperatures are kept for some period of time (140F/60C@12min; 150F/65C@72sec):
* https://www.michiganfoodsafety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/0...
* Tables 2 to 4: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/202...
However, microbes are living things, and when they metabolize food they create waste. That waste can also be harmful to humans as well, but the waste is not dealt with high temperatures. So even if you kill the microbes at high temperatures to prevent poisoning, if there's enough waste around and you ingest it you may get food intoxication.
No judgement — I’m sure COVID has done this to many people. But if it’s causing you anxiety or other stress, it may be worth considering talking to someone.
I think, generally, the real risks are overblown. E.g. many people can be anxious about the bacteria on our phones. And they do contain a lot, but most of them are harmless.
As long as you wash your hands when you get home from being in public, and don’t touch your face while in public, and clean your phone if you’ve been in a high risk public area, you’re likely knocking out most real risks.
Again, I’m not an expert. But I’ve done some digging on it, and this is my take, FWIW.
With that said, this is only for bacteria. Bacteria also can produce spores (Ex: the botulism toxin produced by a bacteria, which is produced in an anaerobic environment, and exactly why sous vide cooking at low temperatures can be dangerous, as the anaerobic environment that it can thrive in and if kept at temperaturese in the danger zone where it can thrive can result in the production of botulism that won't be later killed/destroyed by higher temps that kill its producing bacteria)
I was fine for years until I wasn’t - now I basically restrict myself bottled water and wine, which come from outside the plane. Many airlines flown in the past year around the world too.
I understand the water sources may vary (by airport? not sure?), but if the planes are largely manufactured by Boeing and Airbus, how are the onboard water sources / distribution systems getting contaminated?
Delta being a 5.00 means they're doing something different, but what is it & what control do they have over the plumbing, water systems, etc.?
If you have a holding tank of water like in an airplane, and you never clean it, you’re going to have pathogens build up. Just adding in new fresh water isn’t enough.
That comes from the coffee machine built into the galley, which uses the aircraft’s onboard potable water tanks.
Those tanks are filled from a hose by the ground crew during refueling.
(At least for major US airlines. I understand some other carriers serve instant coffee packets. Even then, the hot water still comes from the aircraft tanks.)
Not super comforting if they're then using the same 'non-potable' water to make coffee...
I’d rather PJ focus on his podcast rather than making visual art. Akin to using a stock image instead of going out taking a picture instead to save time.
Almost any mildly relevant stock image would have been better if having an image was that desirable.
Think about that when you have your next airplane beer. I sure do when I have one. Bottoms up!
"Mission Center For Food As Medicine & Longevity is a nonprofit organization working to bridge the gap between traditional medicine and the use of food as medicine in the prevention, treatment, and management of disease while also increasing access to these treatments, thereby creating a more equitable food system that will improve health outcomes."
It might not be, but I'm skeptical of most articles coming from organizations sounding like that. Eating healthy and nutritious food is incredibly important and a good diet can prevent certain diseases. Maybe that is all they're trying to say. However, I come across a lot of people who just think you can avoid medicine all together and just eat certain foods and herbs.
In the last years there is some doubt among researchers that "eating healthy" is the magic cure all. It plays some role, but it may be overblown in the public view.
Major Airlines
Delta Air Lines: 5.00 (Grade A)
Frontier Airlines: 4.80 (Grade A)
Alaska Airlines: 3.85 (Grade B)
Allegiant Air: 3.65 (Grade B)
Southwest Airlines: 3.30 (Grade C)
Hawaiian Airlines: 3.15 (Grade C)
United Airlines: 2.70 (Grade C)
Spirit Airlines: 2.05 (Grade D)
JetBlue: 1.80 (Grade D)
American Airlines: 1.75 (Grade D)
Regional Airlines
GoJet Airlines: 3.85 (Grade B)
Piedmont Airlines: 3.05 (Grade C)
Sun Country Airlines: 3.00 (Grade C)
Endeavor Air: 2.95 (Grade C)
SkyWest Airlines: 2.40 (Grade D)
Envoy Air: 2.30 (Grade D)
PSA Airlines: 2.25 (Grade D)
Air Wisconsin Airlines: 2.15 (Grade D)
Republic Airways: 2.05 (Grade D)
CommuteAir: 1.60 (Grade D)
Mesa Airlines: 1.35 (Grade F)
[edit: formatting]
And also every time there's a report, they rank this way
I always take my suitcase and my backpack to the airplane and then I check my suitcase at the gate. Three reasons. First, there are no baggage fees at the gate. Second, I can roll backpack on my suitcase. Third, I get to board early for "helping out". Why wouldn't you do this?
I do only check it if someone else in my party is already checking bags but that turns out to be most of the time for me.
Note: I'm actually replying to a reply that's too deep.
Normally gate checking is the better option, but you can't do it when flying with stuff that can't go into a carryon: bottles of wine, firearms, and so on.
« Do not wash your hands in the bathroom; use alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol instead. »
Alcohol only kills some pathogens. Notably, it does not kill norovirus. If the water has coliform bacteria, you should wash your hands with soap and water and then use the alcohol hand sanitizer
When I was a little boy in New York City in the 1940s, we swam in the Hudson River and it was filled with raw sewage okay? We swam in raw sewage! You know... to cool off! And at that time, the big fear was polio; thousands of kids died from polio every year but you know something? In my neighbourhood, no one ever got polio! No one! Ever! You know why? Cause we swam in raw sewage! It strengthened our immune systems! The polio never had a prayer; we were tempered in raw shit! So personally, I never take any special precautions against germs. I don't shy away from people that sneeze and cough, I don't wipe off the telephone, I don't cover the toilet seat, and if I drop food on the floor, I pick it up and eat it! Yes I do. Even if I'm at a sidewalk café! In Calcutta! The poor section! On New Year's morning during a soccer riot! And you know something? In spite of all that so-called risky behaviour, I never get infections, I don't get them, I don't get colds, I don't get flu, I don't get headaches, I don't get upset stomach, you know why? Cause I got a good strong immune system and it gets a lot of practice.It's the first piece I ever read/saw of G.C., it made a lasting impression...
Carlin had a history of heart problems,[82][83] including heart attacks in 1978, 1982, and 1991.[52] He also had an arrhythmia requiring an ablation procedure in 2003, a significant episode of heart failure in 2005, and two angioplasties on undisclosed dates.[84] In the 2022 documentary George Carlin's American Dream, Jerry Hamza—Carlin's manager from 1980 until his death—said Carlin underwent many heart surgeries in a short period toward the end of his life. Carlin's publicist Jeff Abraham said that he once lifted his shirt after coming to a gig from the hospital to show Abraham his torso, whereupon Abraham said it looked like a science project.
Dude had his first heart attack at the age of 41, and lived four years less than today's median life expectancy in the United States.
You're welcome ;)
Airplane-bathroom doors open out because they must. But the number of public-bathroom doors that inexplicably open INWARD is mind-boggling. Instead of simply having doors open outward, millions of bathrooms create mountains of paper waste by having them open inward and encouraging users to waste a paper towel to grab its handle.
Galling stupidity: https://www.instagram.com/p/BlO_-jmg4o7/
It's a mix. There's a number of split doors designs that break in half and fold inwards.
The reason you care about germs on your hands is because they make you sick when you stick them in your body orifaces. Otherwise, those germs don't matter.
Wash hands before meals otherwise.
considering the topic is about airlines and flights, you would presumably be eating a meal after this and not be able to easily wash your hands again.
As someone in a dental family and with excellent teeth, you absolutely do not need to brush your teeth on a flight.
(time-wise, I started increasing brushing after the situation got worse. The root cause for the worsening was not seeing a dentist for two years. Don't do that, definitely see a dentist periodically. And the dentist seems happy with my brushing decision, need to do as much as I can to prevent plaque formation)
For airplanes, I buy three small bottles of water before flight (15hr flight). And I use that for drinking, rinsing and washing my toothbrush. While we cannot bring bottled water from outside the airport to the embarking area, there are usually shops in that area that sell small bottles.
NEVER drink any water onboard; only drink alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol instead
Looked it up
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3037063/
Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1) handwashing with water, (2) handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and (3) no handwashing. Each volunteer underwent this procedure 24 times, yielding 480 samples overall. Bacteria of potential faecal origin (mostly Enterococcus and Enterobacter spp.) were found after no handwashing in 44% of samples. Handwashing with water alone reduced the presence of bacteria to 23% (p < 0.001). Handwashing with plain soap and water reduced the presence of bacteria to 8% (comparison of both handwashing arms: p < 0.001). The effect did not appear to depend on the bacteria species. Handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and water is more effective for the removal of bacteria of potential faecal origin from hands than handwashing with water alone and should therefore be more useful for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoeal diseases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_microbiota#Effects_of_anti...
> The “Shame on You” Award goes to the EPA for weak enforcement.
It makes me wonder, how much money is actually wasted by this? It also feels like violations should be the primary funding for these agencies. (Probably creates perverse incentives though)
If the EPA had 100X its current staff, 100X its funding, 100X the teeth, 100X the enforcement, and 100X the fines collected, we would probably live in a paradise.
Don't airlines serve bottled water? Alaska has Boxed Water (same as bottled water).
Similarly when I use a public restroom it is shocking to me how many people don't even follow the most basic personal hygiene.
Last time I was in SFO I saw dozens of people doing that in the time it took from deplaning till boarding an Uber and all I could do was scratch my head
I believe the study is based on water in the tank of the passenger airline and the advice given is to not drink that water, on average.
Please wear an N95 when you lock yourself in a tiny steel tube with hundreds of others. If not for your safety, do it for others.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11203943/ shows that covid transmission goes up exponentially (x1.5 per flight hour) without masking.
I guess people really don't like putting something on their face. Nobody advices only washing hands and being generally healthy against getting STIs; the advice is blocking the pathogens in the first place, I'm not sure why our lungs don't deserve as much protection.
(plus masking makes the air more humid which helps with the dry air I feel)