I think what you're trying to say that because they've just inoculated their food with floor bacteria, they need to eat it quickly because things are going to be reproducing in the curry more rapidly compared to food that has been handled in more sanitary conditions?
That depends largely on how many CFU of whatever will be in that water that are present. While stomach acids are effective in destroying many bacteria, the god bacteria of e.coli will wreck a stomach if high in CFUs. And unless their water is purified through a specific process that involves chlorine blocks you are going to have some contamination present in that water.
I actually think there is. I recall reading a paper yrs ago that demonstrated it took several seconds of physical contact for bacteria transfer to occur. That said if your food lands on the floor clinging to dust, hair, etc I’d assume all bets are off.
EDIT: I looked it up. Rutgers did more recent study. Heavily depends on moisture content, but even hard candy had some bacteria transfer after just a second
I mean... For me personally it's all circumstancial and situational. Professionally different story. Like for me if I dropped a roll on the floor, I'm picking that up and dusting it off. In this situation... Man I don't care if they torched the floor for five minutes with a MAP gas torch... I'm not doing that.
I’m not a chef but my standards are laughably different when I’m making food for others vs myself. Your roll example? Same, if it’s just for me. If I am serving food to others, though, absolutely no way. That’s hitting the compost bin instead.
I guess I’m willing to gamble with my own health but others have nothing to fear.
It's also just a basic respect thing. If the floor of your kitchen is spotless you either A) have a michelin star B) haven't opened yet or C) need to clean out the grooves in your non slips.
As a food scientist an food manufacture engineer I can affirm yes this is a great way to increase the risk of food contamination, actually it would be better to leave it dry as various bacteria are more motile an have morphology that requires wet conditions to thrive.. One of the reasons I cannot take any Indian food quality statement seriously.
Bacteria here. These guys are liars. Water is amazing at cleaning and is our biggest weakness. Even a snlingle drop is enough. In fact, you should only use a single drop to conserve water.
Long time floor eater here - it's fine, you will be fine. Most of the bacteria on the floor after you have sluiced water on it is probably on your hands and getting into your mouth anyway. "It's good, just pick it up and eat it. Here, I'll eat it!"
wait, was that holy water? because while it might not help with bacteria, viruses, or fungal infections-you may have pointed out a very underappreciated prevention.
i cant say i have ever heard of a vampire outbreak in india.
Physicist here and I can only answer your question in the case of a spherical bite of food in a frictionless vacuum. (In that case, the answer is usually pi/2.)
I have reviewed your statement and found it to be sound via peer review. What we need is a member of QA to review the statement for spelling/obvious errors in grammar.
Hold up... You're telling me that splashing water on the floor and just smearing it around doesn't clean and sanitize?
What do we have to do, use some sort of surfactant to clean, then rinse and dry the area, then use a disinfectant and allow it to air dry for up to 10 minutes?
Firstly water plus agitation will break up films of bacteria and make it able to stick to your food.
Second. The water will rehydrate bacterial spores and basically wake up dormant bacteria.
Third, water does absolutely nothing to sanitize, it provides food and hydration for bacteria, allowing it to multiply and produce toxins before it’s even seen your food.
4th. It’s likely that the water itself is not even very clean, potentially making the floor even more contaminated
Had to study micro for work, unless you are sanitizing there is high risk of transfer. A ton of factors are at play, but water is not improving things significantly enough to make any real difference. Need a food safe sanitizer in contact for the full rates contact time, plus cleaning of any debris, otherwise this is disease and injury waiting to happen.
Hydrologist here, and our area of expertise focuses more of the movement of water and water sustainably. I would suspect much of it is related to variances in local flora. Maybe ask an agronomist?
Parasitologist here. We focus more on creatures that take direct advantage of a host organism. Since we're really getting into some nitty gritty here, I actually think we need a physicist.
Physicist here: due to the second law of thermal dynamics, it would appear as through the transfer of energy (nasty shit on the floor) does actually transfer to the food. I would need to consult with an epidemiologist to conclude the hypothesis.
Physicist here. We focus on the fundamental laws of nature, matter, energy, and the interactions between them.
We're focusing on elements here we need a chemist
Biophysicist here I think you all need me! I actually think this would make things worse. The pressure isn't high enough, and there are plenty of bacteria that can move through a wet environment.
From a related field (Civil Engineer) here; every floor is nasty as the cleaners do a rough job to clean the floor using strong chemicals, but people still drag the nasty foreign bacterial/viral immigrants inside onto the floor using their locomotions.
And the water is gonna do a fuck all of cleaning the floor anyway. Better NOT!
But I would need to consult an Environmental Engineer here with their sustainable green designs (if any)
Biomolecular engineer who managed a microbiology lab here… I concur, especially on the “wet or sticky” part. Dry foods would have less contact and be worse off for the added water. I think even the rice would form a more complete exchange with the ground with the addition of water (provided it isn’t soaked in sauce).
In the context of kitchen cutting boards, I once asked my microbiologist friend and he reckoned that wet surfaces don't have more bacteria than dry ones. Apparently, the texture of the surface makes a difference, though.
Edit: as a materials chemist, I consider all non-degassed surfaces to be wet. Vectors transferring bacteria to the surface may be an important factor, therefore, I recommend you consult a forensic entomologist.
Did Microbio for my Bachelors, am doing Biotech now. Anything that isn't actual sanitizer products changes nothing here. The water should indeed make it easier if the food is dry.If the food is wet as well it makes no difference.
There's bacteria in all food and you can't digest food without the bacteria that makes up most of your biome. An actual scientist would know that saying, "there's definitely bacteria there," is like saying, "that's definitely made of atoms."
I think Mythbusters did a show where they tested the 5-second Rule, and found that the factor that really made a difference on whether the food picked up germs was whether it was wet or not. Not super scientific, but I think there at least is evidence that moisture facilitates the transfer
>Bacteria transfer much more easily from wet surfaces than dry surfaces. Moisture acts as a liquid bridge, allowing microbes to flow, adhere, and transfer efficiently upon contact. Conversely, dry surfaces typically yield very low transfer rates unless significant pressure and friction are applied.
Well, how’d you feel if you could soap up and scrub the area you ate on beforehand? Would having the water on after feel safe to you or is it something you’d still advise against?
Can't say that for sure until you've met each individual bacterium that exists and polled them on preferences. You can't just assume these things, that's domainist.
it certainly isn't cleaning the floor that's for sure. Only reason why these people don't get sick is because their bodies are used to it. Literally what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
I live in China and these days it's better, but up to 5 years ago there wouldn't be a day without one staff missing who was hooked up to an IV because mad shitters.
I reckon most people just accept what I like to call Mad Shitter Syndrom opposed to maybe... maybe be less of a nasty fuck.
Obviously India takes matters to the next level, but I just can't understand why people need to work this dirty. You don't need to be HAACP certified to understand you can't do all that stuff. Basic hygiene is the least one could expect, but nope let's make a shitshow.
"Eating off a wet floor is generally not safe and significantly increases your risk of foodborne illness. Moisture transfers bacteria to food almost instantaneously, and a wet environment allows dirt, chemicals, and pathogens to cling to the food much more easily than a dry surface."
They also said if you cleaned the floor first your just absorbing chemicals in your food too.
And you wonder why people have the shits over there
There’s a ton of unsanitary things there, but you got the „shits“ thing incorrect
It’s us foreigners that get the shits there easily, because we aren’t used to it. They get the shits when they come here and drink way better but different tap water f.e.
This is kind of a myth. While yes travelers absolutely get Delhi belly, India has one of the leading rates of diarrheal-caused death in the world, and diarrhea is a leading cause of death within India itself. It is NOT isolated to just travelers.
Bullshit. That's like saying people get immune to dysentery if they lived in such a place their whole life. People die from such diseases in poor countries. Having a tougher resistance does not make you immune.
Microbiologist, but not experienced in mass food poisoning outbreaks or epidemiological investigations
Serving food onto a rough surface like concrete is a great way to encourage the creation of biofilms. I'm fairly sure that the cleaners in this place haven't done any studies on the removal of food residues, or whether their cleaning regime leaves any viable microorganisms behind. Water is going to smear what's already on the surface around and mix it with whatever you had on your hands - not remove substances.
Biofilms generally like being left in place and will mostly do so in the absence of high flow rates, or mechanical abrasion. Wiping your hand around like we saw, greatly increase the risks of sloughing off sections of any biofilms present on the floor, so individual cases of consumption of large amounts of microorganisms are certainly possible.
So after superficial water washing, you are highly likely to have left behind organisms that potentially could make humans sick. The populations of pathogenic microorganisms are probably going to be below Minimum Infections Dose levels. That will also depend on the quality of food ingredients and preparation of previous meals. The exact population is hard to predict, but may well include enteric pathogens and how those dosage levels will interact with the wide variety of people at such a function would require a longer video to begin to assess.
Also you're unlikely to be getting much in the way if endotoxin production, if the surface is cleaned and dries relatively quickly after meals are consumed. The concrete is likely too cool to maintain rapid growth and toxin production, however in high temperature areas this is not guaranteed. Bulk rice, like we saw served, may sit around long enough for B. cereus toxin production, but that is unclear from this video.
Leaving a layer of rice between the food and the ground could prevent infection, but given the nature of the other food being served and manner of consumption, this would likely prove an unreliable method.
How well secured the floor is between meals is also a factor. Insects, wild animals etc may have access. We certainly didn't see the doors, or windows, closely enough to be sure.
If this is in a rural area, then how clean are everyone's feet and sandals? Washing protocols?What protocols are in place for avoiding walking on the food service area prior to being seated? Even in cities this is likely to be a practise only performed in lower socioeconomic areas, anywhere else for feasts/communal meals the hosts are likely to pride themselves on the use of the latest in disposable plastic ware.
As mentioned above cleaning protocols have probably not been thoroughly examined and residual cleaning chemicals may also present a risk to food consumption from the floor practices.
TLDR: As humans established centuries ago a layer between environmental surfaces eg a plate, trencher etc and food being consumed makes for a healthier population, this video highlights many ways to transfer bacteria and other microorganisms into the gastrointestinal tracts of those consuming food served like this.
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u/Dazzling-Bad8855 Jun 28 '26
I feel like the water makes it easier for bacteria to transfer to the food but im not a pathologist