Peanuts or peenuts?
Comments(21)
Photo: Bowl of peanuts
Working freelance in Soho (London) in the 90s was fun. The economy was buoyant and there was the buzz of cash, talent and hope. People worked hard and played hard too. Playing hard was the best part. The bars were packed at lunchtimes and early evening. This is where a lot of freelance people made contacts that might bring them new work.
Generally I was too busy to need to do this, but if the telephone didn’t chirrup then simply drifting down Wardour Street often bought work. You’d bump into someone on the pavement, have a drink in a bar and suddenly you had a new contract.
One of my favourite clients was a producer called Ross. Talented, debonair and very much his own person. He had toppled from millionaire to penniless and gradually trekked his way back up again. A real grafter.
His favourite evening dive was Zilli’s bar. A chic place with great bar snacks, appetisers and free peanuts. These complimentary treats can sustain a happy drinker for an extra hour or two in a buzzing bar so everyone tucked in, including Ross.
Then one terrible Sunday he read an article in his newspaper. Someone had carried out tests in the amount of urine present in bowls of countertop nuts in London and Paris bars. The results would have had a Health and Safety officer reaching for his notebook in a trice. Ross’s heart ran cold. How much urine had he unknowingly consumed over the past twenty five years?
So from then on he demanded his own personal bowl of nuts at Zilli’s, poured straight from the jar. He was happy. A super clean place like that wouldn’t pour the uneaten nuts back into the jar. Would they?
Some people think that the idea of urine on peanuts is an urban myth. No one seems to be able to unearth the details of who carried out the study. Since I heard this story, I have avoided grazing on any bar nuts except from the expensive individual packs.
Perhaps the nut magnates ‘sponsor’ studies every now and then.
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I can well believe the study! the amount of times i have seen folk leaving the “loo” without washing thier hands and then rooting around in the “nuts ‘n’ raisens” really puts one off!
According to our landlady, the Women are the worst! in our local thier paper-towel bin is usually almost empty compared to the one in the gents.
However, i’ve never known or even read of anybody catching anything or being made sick by eating bar-top fodder, but i think i personally will continue to decline!
I agree with Steve, I don’t eat the bar snacks unless the bar tender pours fresh snacks for me right then, or scoops fresh popcorn out of the popper.
I do think women are worse then men for some reason. I’m not sure why, but if you listen in the ladies room you hear the flush of the toilet and the steps to the door without the stop at the sink waaaaaaay too often! What is so importaint that you have to rush back?
There are always bar snacks served here with aperatives. Bruschette, pizza tarts, all sorts of little delicious bite-sized goodies. There are nuts too, but served in a bowl with a spoon! It’s such a simple solution.
And the mints, do you remember the large bowls of mints that would sit by the cash till/register. I’d heard about this study too years ago and don’t eat anything from a communal bowl that isn’t specifically served to a group of us. Though hadn’t thought about unused nuts being poured back… Bleugh!
Much better to serve with a spoon as Casalba said.
eugh, grim! i shall keep that in mind next time i’m at the bar. you did however make me feel nostalgia for my london days and wondering around soho!
I’d heard about the bugs in the peanuts but have never considered the bowl of mints. And if you think about it, even if you wash your hands, you still have to exit the loos and if the person before hasn’t washed theirs you might as well not have washed yours when you touch the door handle. I wouldn’t have thought a spoon would make much difference as anyone who doesn’t care enough to wash their hands isn’t going to pay much attention to the social niceties and not just dig in with their dirty mitts? Have I just totally freaked out people who thought the spoon meant clean nuts?
Perhaps peanuts, and other bar snacks, should only be served in containers that require the contents to be poured out them with no room for fingers!
Until someone I know actually contracts a disease directly traceable to this type of bar food, I remain both sceptical and unbothered …
Sadly my brain did the Homer Simpson thing and just went straight to ‘Mmmm, peanuts!’ completely ignoring the yuk factor.
In the absence of insanitary bar snacks I’m now eating crackers spread with peanut butter. Doh!
I believe it. I never eat bar snacks and sometimes when you use a public loo you see ladies leave without even looking at the wash basins so it’s no surprise.
Rgds
Sam
Urine when it leaves the body is actually sterile, being the best thing to apply to wounds if caught out in the open and no source of water to flush out a cut or wound , someones wee ( hopefully someone you know well who hasn’t any ukky secret ladies ( or mens) place diseases, is the best thing to use.
Wee on nuts wouldn’t bother me for this reason I’d be more worried of things under nails after picking noses and body crevices…eewww starting to feel a little green at the gills just typing that one…
But I’m sure a bit of stale wee wee won’t do you anymore harm than all the nuts themselves or salt or E numbers in their coatings will.
I can wholly believe the story about urine but part of me thinks this is probably an urban myth?
I say no nuts as I’m allergic….but I would not be all that bothered about the wee….I worked in a pub and saw worse than that! Regards to the ladys – there are usually far fewere women in a pub!!
I love bar snacks though – do you remember punjab puris??
That sounds *bad*!!
BTW: You’re on my blogroll now.
When I worked for one of the big hotel chains (in Sydney) we wouldnt put the bahau mix out on the bar, but when groups would sit at the little cocktail tables we would take a little bowl to each table.
When that tableloads left, we chucked out whatever was in the bowl.
Then again, a rough as guts suburban pub I worked in used to put out crackers, nuts, cubed cheddar & dip on a corner of the bar at 5pm. Happy hour.
I didnt even like touching it when I had to empty it at 7pm.. and wash it up. I used to scrub it with floor cleaner. LOL. We had some seedy characters in that hole.
If i was hungry I would make a little plate of cheese & crackers to stash over where the patrons couldnt touch it.
I’m with mandi on this one.
Oh look, Sid has added you to our blog roll! Because you liked his beef and oatmeal stew…
If you look on Snopes urban legend page here http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/mints.asp
you can see what they have to say about urine on mint candies in those bowls by a cash register, and also learn that Johnny Depp was mentioning pee on peanuts on TV.
Granted that I try to avoid peeing on my hands, wash after flushing – just how much do we estimate is picked up off a doorknob when exiting the bathroom (interesting thought, why call it a bathroom, never bathed in a restaurant – but I digress) anyhow if the doorknob doesn’t feel wet, how much is going to be transferred.
Judy
After reading the comments about people that wash thier hands then have to get hold of the door handles that have been used by folk that haven’t, tonight I had a talk with my friendly landlady about this problem!
She has agreed to have the (two)toilet doors into both the ladies and the gents reversed.
As from next week, we will have to pull the doors open (with our reasonably mucky paws) but after washing them, we will be able to push the doors open. This means the “unwashed” can continue to use thier hands, whilst the more discerning can keep our hands clean, and push them open with our foot! yay! result!
Hey Steve, one other way to escape the restroom without touching the door handle is to save your paper towel after you dry your hands and use that to open the door instead. I notice a lot more wastebaskets being moved by the restroom door to accomidate this habit.
Not to make a gross conversation even worse, but I would like to point out that folks do more than just pee when they go to the restroom, and if there wasn’t a problem with not washing your hands, why does the health department put up all the nice stickers to remind folks that they need to wash their hands before they go back to work in a resturant? Many hepatitis outbreaks have been traced back to resturant workers not washing their hands before going back to prepare food.
[...] fill your punters with salty snacks to get them drinking more beer, but I can’t help think of the stories I’ve read about bar nuts being found to be covered in a bewildering cocktail of drinkers piss. For some reason [...]
Funny! I always try and stay away from those mystery bar nuts, but after a few too many beers they can be hard to resist. I’ve linked to your post from my blog, hope you dont mind.