Hygiene alert! Menu cards can cause digestive problems

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 24

You have washed your hands before going for a meal to a restaurant? Well, that’s not just enough to maintain hygiene.

The menu cards at the restaurants are dirtier than you can expect and can lead to digestive problems.

It is advisable to wash or sanitise your hands after you have have scanned through the menu card and right before having your meal at a restraint.

Sometimes it is not the meal which causes digestive problems or food poisoning after you go out for a lunch or dinner, but the dirty menu cards are the main culprits. The nicely-kept menu cards are a breeding ground for drug-resistant bacteria which can upset the stomach and cause gastroenteritis problems.

Apart from the menu cards, salt-and-pepper shakers, tissue-paper holders, ketchup bottles, table mats, etc, contain bacteria, so regular disinfection of them is required.

A restaurant is a public place, where several people come and go and touch the surface and articles around. “Be it a restaurant, hotels, railway station or amusement parks, one should wash hands before eating. Washing hands just before having a meal at a restaurant should be the mantra. So next time, sanitise your hands before having your meal. Washing your hands is an even-better option,” said Dr Dinesh Gupta, chief gastroenterologist at Deepak Hospital.

“Make sure to wash your hands after ordering your meal or carry a sanitiser along. Bacteria such as escherichia coli can be present on the menu card. Such bacteria have the capability to survive for a couple of days. Bacteria such as E coli and S aureus are found on these contaminated things and can cause severe stomach infection. Some of these bacteria can cause typhoid and gastroenteritis problems. They are also resistant to many antibiotics,” said another city-based gastroenterologist Vinay Mehra.