Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers, Washing Your Hands, and How To Actually Prevent Diseases | Episode 50

Don't Eat Poop! A Food Safety Podcast

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our food safety specialists Francine L. Shaw and Matt Regusci come together to talk about hand washing and why relying solely on alcohol-based hand sanitizers does not cut it, especially in the produce and food industries.

They debunk some misconceptions about using alcohol-based hand sanitizers as the primary hand-cleaning method and warn of its risks. These sanitizers are ineffective against some diseases, most notably the Norovirus.

They explore solutions and alternatives that can be more effective, such as Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl), and emphasize the importance of training and education to guarantee food safety.

Lastly, they dive right into some very unusual TikTok content: a guy who is “eating raw chicken every day until I get a tummy ache,” which sounds more like a foodborne illness-diarrhea diet instead.

In this episode:

💩 [00:58] The incredible experience of interviewing so many amazing people at the Food Safety Consortium

💩 [06:08] PSA: do NOT drink alcohol-based hand sanitizers

💩 [07:35] The misconception about alcohol-based hand sanitizers being enough

💩 [13:09] The importance of training and education in food safety

💩 [15:22] The risks of heavily relying on hand sanitizers for food safety

💩 [16:58] Norovirus: its “fun” symptoms and what actually kills it

💩 [21:17] The potential of hypochlorous acid in food safety

💩 [23:21] Why isn’t HOCl being widely used when it’s safer and so effective?

💩 [29:11] Food Safety Humor: Don’t do this at home! Our reaction to the "Raw Chicken Experiment" guy

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Check out Cori Muse’s post that Matt and Francine hijacked on LinkedIn here.

Access Neal Wieselman’s article, The Science of Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers and Norovirus, here.

If you’re curious, you can find Francine’s post to Matt about the guy who is “eating raw chicken every day until I get a tummy ache” here.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“There's so many products I think should be on the market that would help save lives that just aren't for some weird reasons. And I don't understand it.” – Matthew Regusci

“I guess they think because they have sand sanitizer, it's not a problem. It doesn't work like that.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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We'd love to hear from you!

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Check out Francine's book Who Watches the Kitchen? on Amazon!

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Produced by Ideablossoms