The introduction of hand blow dryers in public restrooms often times introduced no clear way to exit without touching an enteric bacteria-coated door handle. To date the best way to exit the bathroom without smearing someone else’s bacteria on your hands is to use a paper towel to touch the door handle. Golden Corral in Cary has a new approach, the door hook. Using the forearm a person tall enough to reach the hook should now be able to leave the restroom with uncontaminated hands. This is especially important in a restaurant that serves finger foods like fried chicken, rolls, etc.

Of course it is still up to the diner to properly wash their hands. According to the CDC, hands should be washed for the length of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Diners should also assign themselves one hand for touching the dirty food bar serving utensils and one for handling food. However for maximum cleanliness, use a dime-sized dollop of alcohol-based gel of at least 60% concentration (40% gels are worthless) after each trip to the food bar. (CDC Paper, .PDF)

While there are still many routes for disease transmission, it is nice to see a restaurant offering a solution to one of the key sources of sickness.