HAMBURGERS, TEETH & FOOD POISONING

Hello and welcome to the monthly installment of Axioms with Barry, which is released on the first day of each month. What do you mean today isn’t the first? WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DIDN’T POST LAST MONTH?!?! That’s preposterous! Inconceivable!

If preposterous means ridiculous, would posterous be what comes afterward? Denial, perhaps? Or disillusionment after realizing that the object you found to be ridiculous is in fact perfectly rational? Or disappointment in the fact that said object is just as ludicrous as previously believed and that it actually exists?

These are questions better left up to philosophers and lexicographers, or me when I’m lying in bed at 4am unable to sleep. Either way, it is nothing but conjecture and you came here for FACTS!

Is it dinner time yet? I think I’ll have a moist, juicy, delicious hamburger. But why is it called a hamburger? Is it because it was originally made with ground ham? Fortunately, no (I quite detest the taste of ham, although I love bacon). In fact, the hamburger is named after Hamburg, a city in Germany. The residents of Hamburg are called Hamburgers and the residents of Frankfurt are called Frankfurters. No, that doesn’t mean you can eat the residents.

The hamburger most likely received its name from the German immigrants entering the United States in the late 1800s, but it is disputed who invented the first hamburger. There are a few contenders who vie for the title of hamburger king (or queen). In fact, three U.S. cities have declared themselves the home of the first hamburger, but alas, there can be only one.

There are five potential creators of the hamburger, which we will speak about ever so briefly:

1. Fletcher Davis (1880): He is believed to have sold hamburgers at his café in Athens, Texas and later brought them to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. McDonalds credited him as the inventor and Dairy Queen stated that Athens, Texas is the birthplace of the hamburger.
2. Frank & Charles Menches (1885): The Menches brothers sold sausage sandwiches at the County Fair. When they ran out of sausage, they began using beef. It is said that the name was given based on Hamburg, New York.
3. Charlie Nagreen (1885): Credited as “Hamburger Charlie,” he reportedly served sandwiches using meatballs to make it easier for customers to eat while they walked around. The historical society of Seymour, Wisconsin states that he named it after the Hamburg steak that immigrants were familiar with.
4. Oscar Bilby (1891): He is the most probable creator of the hamburger. The governor of Oklahoma even declared Tulsa to be the true birthplace of the hamburger. On Fourth of July on his farm, he served hamburgers on his wife’s homemade buns. The burgers in Athens were served on slices of bread, which is known today as a patty melt. They say the bun makes it a true hamburger and he is the first to allegedly do so.
5. Louis Lassen (1895): According to the Library of Congress, he was the first to sell a hamburger and steak sandwich in the U.S. He flame broiled the hamburgers from his lunch cart in New Haven, Connecticut.

Walter Anderson, who later co-founded White Castle, invented the hamburger bun in 1916. He appears to be the only contender, although I’m unsure how his buns differed from Mrs. Bilby’s buns.

After eating all of that food, I need to brush my teeth. I can’t kiss my girl with hamburger breath, now can I? WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DON’T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!?! Ignoring my present disconnection from reality, you should put down that toothbrush if you just ate. Research has shown that brushing your teeth less than 30 minutes after eating can cause more harm than good, especially if the food was acidic. That is also true of episodes of acid reflux (I watch that show all the time).

Brushing your teeth after eating acidic food, drinking soda, or having acid reflux can actually damage your teeth. Acid attacks the enamel of your teeth and dentin, which is the layer below the enamel. Once your enamel is gone, it is gone for good. It seems logical that brushing would take away the acid, but it actually pushes the acid deeper into the enamel and dentin, causing greater loss than waiting a short time. Dental research recommends waiting at least 30 minutes after eating acidic food to brush your teeth in order to maintain good dental health. That’s something we can all smile about.

Disclosure: That was my feeble attempt at a pun… I think. I admit it was pretty terrible.

Disclosure #2: You thought I wasn’t doing disclosures anymore, didn’t you? No such luck!

Okay, I’m full. I had a delicious burger and waited before brushing my teeth. I should feel good, but I’m starting to feel sick. I think that burger I ate an hour ago gave me food poisoning.

It looks like it’s time to clear up another common misconception. Becoming sick an hour or two after eating does not mean that the last food you ate made you ill. In reality, the incubation period (time it takes from ingesting the virus, bacteria or toxin until the illness is manifested in the body) for food borne illnesses can range from immediate to 28 days. Most commonly, the incubation period is between 6 and 72 hours. Norovirus, the most common food borne illness in the U.S., has an incubation period of 10 to 55 hours, meaning you will not develop symptoms for at least 10 hours after eating the contaminated food.

What I’m trying to say is don’t necessarily blame the last restaurant you ate at when you feel ill. You should look back at least 72 hours to determine the culprit. When I worked at a hotel, I had quite a few accusations from guests that our food made them ill. Only lab tests can confirm it, but one shouldn’t immediately jump on the last place they ate, as it may not have been caused there.

Do we have time for one more fun filled fact about food borne illnesses? Yes, I believe we do.

Most people are misinformed regarding the culprits of food pathogens. According to a sample of 1,500 adults in a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, 82% identified raw fish or sushi and 80% rare or medium-cooked hamburgers (we just came full circle to the beginning of today’s Axioms!!!) as at least somewhat risky. Only 36% of those surveyed found raw fruits and vegetables to be risky.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (no, I didn’t make that up) the foods most commonly linked to outbreaks with identified causes were seafood (899 cases), followed by produce (554), then poultry (476), beef (438), and eggs (329).

Kids, that doesn’t mean you can stop eating your vegetables. Just make sure they are washed thoroughly. That said, washing produce is a good precaution, but it won’t necessarily safeguard you from a food borne illness, nor will only buying locally grown from farmers markets. There a number or ways produce can become contaminated, but because it is uncooked anything that comes into contact with it can taint it.

We began this Axioms hungry and craving a hamburger and ended it not wanting to eat ever again! You’re welcome. Stay tuned for future installments, where we will discuss facts about the human body, palm trees and more. Thank you and stay knowledgeable!