Unless you’re the type of person who obsessively cleans the steering wheel, gear shift, door handles and other surfaces inside your automobile with antibacterial wipes, eating in a car can place your health at risk. As outlined by the Daily Mail, British accessories business Halfords conducted a study on consumer cars in which they found germs that cause food poisoning, skin infections and par break emission. Such bacteria as staphylococcus, bacillus cereus and others could be responsible for officially ruining your day.
Eating in a car is a prescription for staph infection
The Mail indicates that staphylococcal infections jump from person to person with ease and lead to the skin condition impetigo, not to mention intestinal illness. Bacillus cereus wait for warmth from the heater or sun to promote spore growth. Similarly, leaving the car parked within the hot sun can do the exact same. Food particles from eating in a car are a great place to nurse bacteria to rampant health.
Cleaning interior surfaces is essential
If surfaces that drivers and passengers touch are not cleaned, food poisoning that causes severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea can result. Staph is typically found in areas where hands might go (wheel, knobs, shift, handles), while bacillus gets down within the dirt on the mats, carpet, seats and vents. Of infected cars Halfords found, 70 percent of the owners admitted to eating in a car. Of all cars surveyed, half said they cleaned the inside of their car less than once a month, says the Daily Mail. Halfords recommends car owners clear out their cars at least once per week.
Eating in a car is risky, but cooking is handy
If you would like to cook something like a hot dog on your engine block, you are able to make it happen, says How to Do Things. Wrap it tightly in aluminum foil – maybe even double- or triple-wrap – as this protects both the food and the engine parts. Open the hood and discover the hot spot that’s from wires and lines. This will vary from car to car, so do a hand test sometime and see if you can feel where the most heat is escaping. Don’t literally touch the engine, just hold your hand over it.
Once you’ve found the place, secure the food using something that won’t melt or burn up. You want the food to fit snug, but not cover the engine so much the engine overheats. Close the automobile’s hood and start driving. Times will vary depending upon what you are cooking, the specifics of your engine and the type of driving you are doing. For a lot more info on how to cook hot dogs or a wide variety of other foods, take a look at the brilliant book “Manifold Destiny”.
Additional info at these websites
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1284632/Eating-wheel-puts-risk-food-poisoning.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
http://www.howtodothings.com/automotive/how-to-cook-food-on-your-car-engine
http://books.google.com/books?id=tZIFAAAACAAJ&dq=cooking+on+your+car+engine&ei=CwYMR7nrDI–ogLO_oTdDg
