"Health advisory".

"Recently both the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Health Canada have advised us of an increase in gastrointestinal illness in Continental United States and British Columbia. As a consequence, we have increased our cleaning and disinfection protocols.... If you experience any of the symptoms of gastrointestinal illness--nausea, diarrhea and/or vomiting--please contact the Medical Center and someone will come to see you. There is no charge for this service."

That letter was delivered to our stateroom on a Holland America line cruise departing on May 25, 2007 from Vancouver, BC, en route to Seward (near Anchorage), Alaska. The letter was part of a high-profile germ-fighting bandwagon that included hand-sanitizing chemical dispensers of "germ fighter jells" and/or wipes at every door handle and entrance to, and exit from, eating, drinking, or restroom facilities aboard the ship, as well as entrances to the ship, each dispenser alerting passengers to "Help stop the spread of germs."

As a longtime observer of food safety practices and protocols, the shipboard germ-fighting program seemed like an extreme example of spin, designed to serve as a distraction from the food-handling practices that are probably responsible for most of the gastrointestinal problems the cruise line is attributing to dirty hands.

Lukewarm and partially cooked foods sit around for six hours at a time. Room-temperature salads and stir-fries were available for six to eight hour interludes. Warm pizza and semi-cooked burgers were available all day, the burgers tossed on a grill for less than 30 seconds per side. This is probably the least expensive, and most dangerous, way to feed large groups of trusting people who are cruising on Carnival's most expensive banner.

Once I learned that the burgers were partially precooked, I avoided them and wondered about salad bars, "hot" food stations, and warmers in supermarkets and restaurants, and how well they are being monitored for safety. In spite of all the hand-cleaning emphasis, most of the passengers I talked with are taking human food scares in stride on land as well as aboard ship. The dangers lurking in pet food have generated more anxiety than all the recent problems with human food. Some of that is attributable to it being a new problem--human food safety problems have had an intermittently high profile for several years. Part is attributable to having something new to worry about--many pet owners had assumed that their pets' heightened sense of smell would enable them to know if there was something wrong with the food and refuse to eat it. Learning that is not the case creates anxiety in pet food buying decisions.