B Linens and Body Odour

[silverjam]

In researching B Linens and its properties I came across the suggestion that the bacteria is also what produces body odour and foot odour. Ok that doesn't really bother me that there is a connection, but my thought is this... Does working with B Linens particularly in the constant washing and handling of smear ripened cheeses lead to a cross contamination of bacteria from cheese to the human? It seems inevitable that the B Linens will make its way into/under the skin of cheese makers. Simply put, can B Linens contaminate the skin of a human in the process of ongoing development of smear ripened cheeses? Those that make the cheeses will know that there is very much a hands on interaction between the cheese and hands - particularly if you are using an atomiser/spray with B Linens water to wash the cheese.

Sorry for the grammar. I think American English is Odor possibly? Also I am sure I get the vote for the weirdest question of the month.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Boofer]

Funny you should mention that. My wife remembers a neighbor gentleman from her childhood. He used to work at a cheeserie and would come home after work smelling strongly of cheese and whatever other odors clung to him from the cheese workplace. I don't think her recollection of him is particularly favorable (is that favourable to you?).

-Boofer-

[linuxboy]

Simply put, can B Linens contaminate the skin of a human in the process of ongoing development of smear ripened cheeses?

Of course.

[Tomer1]

Its most likely that you were already contaminated, even before you started washing wheels and all that dangerous stuff :)

[smilingcalico]

On days I had to be in the ageing cave for only a couple hours, it's no big deal. But the day I had to be in there for 10 hours! Phew! I couldn't stand to smell myself! A good old shower does the trick though.

[Tomer1]

Well, Unpowered gloves are always a good choice in terms of sanitation.

[tinysar]

There are all sorts of critters living on your skin all the time: B. linens, Propionibacteria, and Lactobacillus are all common body flora. Apparently B. linens eats dead skin, hence the claim that washed-rind cheeses smell like "stinky feet" - feet are a great environment for these bacteria. I think the hands would be less ideal, especially if they were washed (and scrubbed to remove the dead skin - like around the nails) regularly. You have to remember that our skin is not a "clean" growing medium like fresh curds - the skin already has populations of bacteria filling that niche. Avoiding nasty body odours is just as much about maintaining neutral or sweet-smelling bacteria, as about avoiding the nasty-smelling ones.

[NimbinValley]

We should also remember that bathing, in western europe anyway, is a relatively new idea so it is highly likely that cheese and 'unclean' people have been coexisting for centuries.  It is also highly likely that a lack of refrigeration also meant that symbiotic relationships have existed between humans and their food for centuries as well.  Not very pleasant when you get down to the tin tacks of it all, but there you go...

[Boofer]

There are all sorts of critters living on your skin all the time: B. linens, Propionibacteria, and Lactobacillus are all common body flora. Apparently B. linens eats dead skin, hence the claim that washed-rind cheeses smell like "stinky feet" - feet are a great environment for these bacteria. I think the hands would be less ideal, especially if they were washed (and scrubbed to remove the dead skin - like around the nails) regularly. You have to remember that our skin is not a "clean" growing medium like fresh curds - the skin already has populations of bacteria filling that niche. Avoiding nasty body odours is just as much about maintaining neutral or sweet-smelling bacteria, as about avoiding the nasty-smelling ones.

Well, this has certainly been a delightful discussion....  :o

The reason I wear gloves when handling my cheeses. One less variable in the process.

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

You you use disposable PE or latex gloves or reusable PVC gloves? ("chemical handling")

[smilingcalico]

I used to work a cheese counter and EVEN THOUGH I WORE GLOVES, cutting the Domestic German Brick, I still had the stink on my hands for 2 DAYS!!!  Sometimes you can't win for losing, as the expression goes.  I still can't quite figure out that expression, just know I'm using it properly, LOL.

[Boofer]

You you use disposable PE or latex gloves or reusable PVC gloves? ("chemical handling")

I use disposable Blue Nitrile gloves. I wash my hands enough already.

Here's a comment from another satisfied user:
"I originally began buying these gloves for work in a cadaver lab as the formaldehyde smell does not come through. The gloves are easy to put on and they easily last 3 hours of lab work, even with blunt dissection using fingers. I've since begun purchasing these for diaper changes for our church nursery and will probably use them for pretty much any task where I'll need a glove. But the bottom line is that these gloves are less expensive and higher quality than what I've found in elsewhere."

-Boofer-

[NimbinValley]

Yes, quite.

[Caseus]

I like those gloves too, Boofer.  I use them in my darkroom to protect my hands from photochemicals.  I'm not using them for cheesemaking though.  I just wash my hands thoroughly before touching the cheese. 

On my very first cheese make, I didn't even have a ladle for strring.  I just stirred with my hand and arm stuck in halfway up to my elbow, per David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D., in step 11 of CHEESE MAKING ILLUSTRATED.

I was watching a show on TV a couple of day's ago, I think it was something like "Chuck's Week Off - Mexico".  The host, Chuck Hughes, traveled to Baja (Lotero) where he visited a couple of remote ranches and learned how to make sun-dried (and fly-covered) beef jerky at one, and ranchero cheese at another.  If you can find a replay of that show, I highly recommend it.  It is worth it just to see how the tough looking Mexican woman rancher milks her cow and immediately makes a simple ranchero cheese with the milk.  She does it outdoors on her front porch, in not especially fastidious manner, unwashed hands mixing right into the curds, with files crawling around on the table nearby.  I think this is closer to the way cheese is made by simple folk the world over for their own consumption and sustenance.  Still, I'm not persuaded to dispense with all sanitation.  I am at least inclined to wash my hands before plunging them into the curd to stir during cooking.   :P

[Tomer1]

Perhaps repeated exposure to Ecoli makes you more resistant.
In that part of world where water quality is not very high , runny bottom is just a part of life :)