Mistletoe and hygiene
The scent of pine needles, the sound of sleigh bells and the sight of Christmas markets popping up everywhere can brighten up our lives. But can food from a festive street stall potentially harm your health, asks Essity’s Jeremy Bennett?
There used to be a time when many of us would head to northern Europe at this time of year to sample the delights of a typical Christmas market.
Originally to be found only in Germany and Austria, these events would attract people from far and wide with their fairytale log cabin-style stalls where traditional crafts and festive goodies could be bought alongside steaming mugs of fragrant mulled wine.
But we no longer need to venture so far to attend a Christmas market. They can now be found much closer to home in practically every large UK town and city. Besides at least three in London, there are annual events in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bath, Cardiff, Exeter, Winchester and Brighton.
And our largest festive event – the Frankfurt Christmas Market Birmingham – attracts 80-plus stallholders, many of them from Frankfurt, which is Birmingham’s twin city.
The event attracts around 5.5 million visitors a year who flock to the market to buy Christmas crafts and sample traditional treats such as mulled wine, wheat beer, gingerbread, schnitzel and stollen. And, of course, there are many stalls selling German-style hot dogs – huge bratwurst served in giant sub rolls.
But many of these types of food items are prepared – and eaten – with the hands, and we are all well aware of the role hands can play in passing on colds, flu and gastro-intestinal germs. Any illness contracted at this time of year could ruin
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our Christmas, so it’s important that all market stall food is prepared and served hygienically.
However, this can be a challenge since stall-holders are often required to work in cramped conditions with no access to a mains water supply. The chilly environment of a Christmas market can also make the task of hand washing and sanitising an unpleasant experience – one that could cause chapping and soreness to the skin.
So, how do Christmas market stall-holders ensure that their hands remain clean and hygienic at all times when serving food to the public?
Basic hygiene laws cover all street food stalls in the UK, with Christmas markets being no exception. All stalls should have easy-to-clean surfaces, a water supply and hygienic hand washing and drying facilities.
Stall-holders need to organise their work space smartly to ensure that hand washing and drying facilities are always conveniently located near to hand. These facilities should be supplied in a compact format to maximise the amount of space available for food preparation. And all products should ideally be protected from contamination, for if a single textile towel were supplied for use by all operatives it would quickly become a breeding-ground for germs.
Mini versions of soap and towel dispensers mounted on the wall of a market stall will save valuable counter space while protecting the products from contamination before use. For example, the mini version of the Tork Liquid Soap Dispenser
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