May 6, 2012
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Half Eaten Sandwich
We went to Outback Steakhouse tonight and I had a steak. My youngest child had a sandwich.
(This is not the sandwich).
She was only able to eat half of the sandwich. My general rule is that if you take a bite out of something, you should not take it with you. It is only safe if you cut off portions with your knife.
If you take bites out of it, the bacteria will grow on it and you will be eating bacteria later.
Would you box up a half eaten sandwich?
Comments (86)
YOU EAT THE WHOLE SANDWICH LIKE A TRUE AMERICAN.
No.
This is why I generally don’t order sandwiches I’m not convinced I’ll love/finish. Not for the bacteria, necessarily (though now that’s a concern), but because left over sandwiches usually NEVER come out ok the next day or two. Ick. Same rule for salads.
I never really thought about that, but I also never ended up in the hospital because of “bacteria on leftovers” so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.
Ummm….what?!?! I love leftovers. My rule is if it goes in the fridge relatively quickly then i’m good to go. I’ve never had food poisoning
Yes, but usually I’ll cut off what I can eat before boxing it up.
I’m not convinced that you can hurt yourself by eating something you took bites out of earlier though.
Only if I lick it first. As is my general rule for taking anything home.
I’m not worried about the bacteria, I just don’t like soggy sandwiches.
I’m laughing so hard now! I’m sorry, but it was this advice from you: “It is only safe if you cut off portions with your knife”. Do you know that is exactly what SEAL team 6 said before they fed the sharks?
A bacteria fetish!
Now we have:
1. Towel Fetish
2. Shower Fetish
3. Sheet Fetish
4. Undies Fetish
5. THE BACTERIA FETISH!
I’m glad I don’t live in the Dan Fetish household, I’d be too busy hosing myself down with chlorine to go out and play with my friends.
The bacteria growing is a new thing for me. Thanks for the hint….Food for thought lol lol lol….
Never, ever, ever. Disgusting. I also won’t order soup or chili or anything that comes out of a large pot that serves more than me and you will never in a million years catch me eating from a buffet. I won’t share drinks, straws, and wouldn’t even open mouth kiss until the last few years. My hands are always scrubbed raw and I carry antibacterial antiseptic with me.
I worry about bacteria, too.
@Kellsbella - A fetish is a fetish whether you’re Dan at the restaurant or Seal Team Six artfully fixing din din for the sharks.
probably not
@PrisonerxOfxLove - Disagree. One is OCD and the other is duty for the country. (Or payback.)
I’ve never actually thought about the bacteria that would grow on it after taking a bite out of it. Interesting. I don’t think I’d do anything differently though. I take home leftovers all the time.
what? why is saving half a sandwich disgusting?
this is news to me! does the same go for half eaten burgers?
@Kellsbella - If Dan had become a navy SEAL maybe he could have dedicated his OCD to niceness instead of restaurant leftovers, showers, sheets, towels, and undies.
Not if it’s a knuckle sandwich. Those aren’t tasty at all.
lol
Yep. Have and will continue to do so!
I usually eat leftovers the day or of the next day, so I am fine saving it. Plus, why waste food? Now, one solution would be to slice it in half before eating. But with kids, they will probably take 2 or 3 bites after the first half and say they are full before requesting desert, ha ha ;.) I would likely make my kid finish it at home for dinner or lunch the next day.
@PrisonerxOfxLove - C’mon, despite the germ phobe that he is; Dan is a nice guy.
I paid for the whole sandwich. I’d better be eating the whole sandwich, even if it is not at the same sitting. I have yet to get sick from eating left over food.
besides there are starving children in the streets. I hate to think that a half eaten sandwich is going to waste.
I’d cut off the bitten parts because I am paranoid like that; however I’d never waste what’s left. Ever. Otherwise it’s just… well, wasteful. I try to avoid waste.
…
I have this rule as well. I have this rule despite the fact I know it is completely illogical.
Did it ever occur to you that any bacteria on the half eaten sandwich is there because it was in your mouth to begin with? As for the original question about boxing a sandwich, no, because it’ll be too mushy by the time I’m ready to eat the rest of it. I will box anything that won’t be mushy/soggy later.
Why would you order so much food for a kid anyway? We all know that kids are famous for having eyes bigger than their stomachs. This is why you order them a happy meal or whatever instead. Or just let them pick off of your plate.
I think there’s bacteria from having sex. Dan, do not have any more sex!
I’m pretty picky about leftovers, and bread in particular. I HATE soggy bread with a passion, and I always get mayo on my sammichs, so I almost never take half eaten sandwiches home, and if I do, they usually either get eaten by Joe or thrown in the trash a few days later.
i figure that i can handle my own germs unless they are given too much opportunity to multiply, but sometimes i do worry a bit about the possibilities of nose-picking, sloppy sneezing food preparers and/or servers that may not have any concept of personal hygiene coming in contact with my food. the question about the half-eaten sandwich is moot for me, though since i try to remain gluten free…
I will definitely take it home. Sometimes I lick all my food beforehand to establish dominance.
yep I will box it and take it home. I save food all the time. and while it is gross to think about eating the bacteria, in reality you are never going to completely get away from exposure to bacteria and not all exposure is even bad.
First of all – surprise – surprise – the sandwiches you get at restaurants are NOT sterile. They are full of bacteria to begin with. You do NOT significantly add to the bacteria by taking a bite or two of the sandwich. This is nonsense. The bacteria you might add would be normal flora to your body. You know, even if you wash 3 times a day Dan, your body is COVERED with bacteria ALL the time. Staphylococcus, streptococcus, oh the list is too long. Look here: http://textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html
YOUR BODY IS INFESTED WITH BACTERIA!
The anaerobic bacteria in your bowel is what make farts and stuff smell so bad! If your gut was sterile – there would be no gas generated by the little boogers!
really? i just take it home.
Geez Dan I never knew you were so… obsessed with bacteria and hygiene.
I don’t like boxing up leftovers in general. So no, I wouldn’t.
Oh dear. If I felt that way about restaurant leftovers, my kids would have starved to death by now. Somebody pays for the meal; unless the food is awful, it shouldn’t go to waste. They have never been sick from leftovers yet. And I figure, it goes in the fridge, and most things are reheated, so there isn’t any more bacteria than there already is. We live with all kinds, it’s a fact if life. If the plague was going around, well, then I might stay home.
Oh, please. Everything is covered in bacteria. Biting into a sandwich really won’t make the slightest bit of difference – do you really think restaurant crockery is that clean? Or air? Come on.
Yes, I’ll box something. But generally when I do that, I eat it within that day anyways. Plus, I have never gotten sick that way. I did however get terrible food poisoining from some eggs at IHop before. I had H1N1, but I think the food poisoining was ALOT worse than that :/
Technically I think it is not bad, unless you have a very weak immune system due to aids or cancer or something. For the average person it can be good to be in touch with some germs..it’s like a vaccination. Plus most of the bacteria out of her mouth are harmless anyway.
I am easily grossed out when someone else touched my fod, but I am not all afraid of my own germs.
yah usually i cut half of it, …
Wow. I’m beginning to think you really ARE a nut case!
As long as its in the fridge within 4 hours, it’s fine.
OCD much, Dan?
it may be bacteria, but it’s MY bacteria, so it doesn’t matter if I eat it later
If it’s something yumtastic like pulled pork I’ll save it and put it on a fresh bun later. Cold cuts or something…nah. I throw it out.
I always order more food than I can eat for the purpose of having leftovers. Sammiches might be the only exception to the rule, though. Not because of sanitary issues but because they never taste the same the next day.
Dan, you have issues. Address them.
Lol is this like a “duck and cover if a nuke goes off” rule? I’m not too afraid of my sandwiches. I have an immune system.
If I have a half eaten sandwich I’ll usually cut off the bitten part and take the rest. If its something that would be ruined by trying to cut it, like some burritos, I just take it home and try to eat it within 24 hours.
Why not cut the sandwich in half before you (or your child) start eating it? Then if you don’t eat the other half you can take it home, DUH!
I don’t like leftovers oops
give your immune system something to do. It’s bored and getting all lazy and atrophied
you made a spelling mistake in the title
you remove the chewed edges with a knife – then bring it home
Just cut off the bitten parts when you get home.
Only if you cut off the bitten into part, or you only ate half of a sandwich that was already cut in half for you.
You can always cut off the part that was bitten. Wow, you’re certainly going on a streak with these hygiene post o.O
@Kellsbella - Didn’t they feed the sharks SANDWICHES?
It’s her own bacteria so if she brought it home and had the other half for lunch the following day it really shouldn’t be a problem.
Don’t stress over bacteria. They live in and on you.
What you really need to worry about is the chef dropping your steak on the floor. They just dip it the water they soak the dirty dishes in, and rewarm it on the grill. Sprinkle a little coarse ground pepper on it to replace the ones stuck to the floor mat…Voila! Good as new!
Just kidding….
I leave leftovers to go where God intended them to go: In the restaurant’s trash.
@PrisonerxOfxLove - I think I’m glad I missed the underwear one.
WTF? Unless it’s a fast food place, I hardly ever manage to eat all of whatever I order. Unless the food was disgusting, I always take my leftovers home and eat them later. I hate wasting food and I hate wasting money.
This seems like an excuse to be wasteful.
OK LOL.
I do it all the time. I would not feed it to anyone else though. I try to cut them in half first though. Of course I go right home and put it in the frig.
@beesuze - Yes. The sharks wanted BLT’s but they winded up with OBL’s. You can’t please everyone.
What? I’ve been eating leftovers all my life and have never gotten sick from a half-eaten meal…
I’d eat and enjoy a half-eaten sandwich, but I can’t say I’ve ever eaten a sandwhich.
i don’t have that fetish…i’d just bring it home and put it in the fridge…however…i do have a fetish about the time things are allowed to set out…if it’s more than two hours between the time it’s ready to eat and the time i can stick it in the fridge i am paranoid about it…>^,,^<
yeah of course. why wouldn’t you? I wouldn’t let it sit for too long, but I’m sure there are bacteria already on the sandwich as is. It’s not like the food on your plate has no bacteria on it…
I think Jim Gravy and Summers are two miserable people and love xanga drama, create fake accounts, and I think Jim makes comments using Summer’ s account. I also believe their sex life is not nearly as great as they make it out to be. They are bad people, terrible xangans, and anyone who has hopped on the Gravy train is an enemy of xanga. Well, since this place is supposively dying, what I just said is mostly of the past. Jim seems like a nice guy, and his friends may like him, but I believe he has an inner rage that spills itself in the form of serial trolling. The same goes for Summers and it would not be totally out of the question to assume Elizabeth Travis was in fact, just another troll used by Summers. I would even go far enough to say there could be four to six other xangans who troll for Gravy’ s sake.
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Yes, but I’ll cut off the bitten parts.
…thats why you put it in the fridge at less than 41 degrees. to halt the bacteria. bacteria is on everything. its dancing on your tongue right now.
I will eat the sandwich, and I have eaten the sandwich. And here I am, still alive. Yay immune system! I’ve been working in a psychology lab that studies contamination fears, and this is pretty fascinating.
That said, I won’t eat at a buffet unless I’m pressured into it.
It’s perfectly okay to save a half-eaten sandwich as long as you store it properly. Are you going to get sick from something that was already growing in your own body anyway? (HINT: THE ANSWER IS NO)
you have a point there, but yes, I do box up leftovers, not sandwiches… unless of course you’re just left with a bite
I don’t do it not because of the bacteria, but because no one else in the household will get something if there are tell tell signs that someone else bit into it.
Dan – you should read these:
Excessive Cleanliness Causes Allergies:
http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/cleanliness_allergies/2010/04/19/314557.html
Causes of Asthma and Allergies: Is Cleanliness at the Root of the Problem?
http://www.realage.com/allergies-and-sinuses/allergies-and-asthma-is-cleanliness-the-cause
Too Clean for Our Own Good?
http://www.diwa.ph/global/UserFiles/epages/1216810662489SG2614_clean.pdf
Hygiene hypothesis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis
absolutely
Considering my husband just gave me the scientific explanation of this… I never want to box half-eaten anything. >..< And this is exactly why I never ever let a waitress take my straw when she goes to fill up my drink. Between her possibly touching it, or setting it down on something, or letting it touch the soda dispensing machine, hell no!
@PrisonerxOfxLove - I have been thinking the exact same thing. Just constantly. What the fuck, dude. You’re not going to die of germs. THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU. Although, I’m declaring you have some form of obsessive thinking, Dan.
Cut the bits of bites off and it’ll be fine.
The filet foccacia sandwich from Outback? Why yes, I will box that shit up and eat it later. BECAUSE IT IS THAT FUCKING DELICIOUS!!!
But, honestly, this is the first I’ve heard anyone talking about not taking home food cuz of bacteria. And it’s not gonna change my habits of taking home leftovers. Nor will it make me cut even a tiny bit off.
Eh, it’s bacteria from my mouth so I’d take it. Although sandwiches are generally gross by the next day so I tend to leave them behind.
I would never buy something this big for my kids. Hubby and I will order something big and then share with them because we hate wasting food and HATE wasting money. The only exception is McDonalds because they tend to eat the whole works (although we only go there about twice per year) in a kid’s meal.
Lol what a waste of money.
Should try to not waste your money instead of yelling at the gov’t for being part of the 99%..