Food without refrigeration

You could easily get sick on food in 18th century England. Hannah Glasse’s advice in her book “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” included a chapter on shopping. Watch for spoiled milk and vegetables contaminated by human waste, she advised. Butchers routinely sold spoiled meat as fresh, so Glasse recommended, “observe the colour of the meat; for it is be stale or tainted, it will be of black colour, intermixed with yellowish or greenish specks. If it be old, the flesh will be tough and hard, the fat contracted, the hoofs large and broad, and the heel horny and much worn.” (Olsen, 232-33.)
The British were famous for how much meet they ate. French visitor Henri Misson wrote, “I always heard they were great flesh eaters, and I found it true. I have known several people in England that never eat any bread, and universally they eat very little. They nibble a few crumbs, while they chew the meat by whole mouthfuls.” (Waller, 180.)
Remember how we talked about the filth on the streets of London when animals were led to slaughter? They were slaughtered in the open air and then sold in the open air. Think flies, flies and more flies. Think no refrigeration and the stench of rotting blood.
So not only was meat (which the poor got seldom) contaminated, vegetables contaminated, but the water was also contaminated. Sewage ran off London streets into the Thames River and then the river water was piped through lead pipes to either homes or to numerous public pumps. (Olsen, 238.) Lead poisoning is particularly bad for children, as it affects neurological development and can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities. The poisoning can be bad enough in both adults and children to cause seizures, coma, and death. Think of the safe and wonderful plumbing we have today! And the next time you open your refrigerator, give thanks.