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I accidentally dropped my steak in soapy dish water for a couple of seconds then rinsed it off and now I'm marinating it. Will it be safe to eat?

Mat
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user81415
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2 Answers2

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Dish soap won't kill you. You probably eat it, in traces, with every meal.

If you can't smell it or taste it, then no real harm done.

Tetsujin
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    If the dish water were dirty, would the extra contaminants be a threat? – Joshua Grosso Reinstate CMs Mar 01 '20 at 04:46
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    @BalinKingOfMoriaReinstateCMs unless the OP was planning to make steak tartare, no. – Stephie Mar 01 '20 at 09:28
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    There are countries where it's typical to *not* rinse off dishes after cleaning them, so they get even more dish soap each time. (I've heard Japan and the UK are this way), – Joe Mar 01 '20 at 17:06
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    As Stephie says, if you're cooking it, you're going to be cooking most of what's on it or saturating it also. It's obviously worse if you've dropped a steak in dirty water than not, however. Sinks in particular can be full of nasty germs. – Jan Kyu Peblik Mar 01 '20 at 19:26
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    If the dishwater was dirty enough to be a health hazard… why would you still be washing up in it? – Tetsujin Mar 02 '20 at 11:31
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    @Joe As a life long UK resident this is the first I'm hearing this... –  Mar 02 '20 at 12:39
  • @user76129 - rinsing makes streaks & water spots. Not rinsing doesn't. Dish soap is designed that way. They're hardly going to 'build up soap' either way - that's just a preposterous idea ;) – Tetsujin Mar 02 '20 at 12:43
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    @Tetsujin The only times I've had streaks and water spots is when you leave them to air dry. –  Mar 02 '20 at 12:52
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    So, we're down to personal preference. Rinsing is not necessary, neither is wiping them over with a tea-towel. – Tetsujin Mar 02 '20 at 12:54
  • @Tetsujin If you don't rinse it wouldn't it taste soapy next time you eat with that dish since it has a ton of dish soap on it still? – Onyz Mar 02 '20 at 13:17
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    'a ton of soap' …? Well, approx one thimble-full to a large bowl of hot water, then allowed to drain until air-dry… Nope, can't say as it does. – Tetsujin Mar 02 '20 at 15:27
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    @Onyz, I've drank water from a glass that wasn't sufficiently rinsed after washing, and it had a distinct bitter taste to it. Maybe if you never rinse your dishes, you simply can't taste it after a while, since you're used to it. – computercarguy Mar 02 '20 at 18:03
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    You guys are either just making this up now, or you're washing your dishes in 80% carbolic & battery acid. I've never heard anything so over-the-top. – Tetsujin Mar 02 '20 at 18:32
  • @user76129 : The mention of Japan came from an NHK show [Home Sweet Tokyo](https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/homesweettokyo/), but when I went searching on my phone, I found mention that [it was a British thing](https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-185700,00.html). I guess I shouldn't have expanded that to 'UK'. In the NHK show, I think they specifically mentioned that the dish soap was specially formulated to be safe, so I guess it's possible it's *not* safe everywhere. – Joe Mar 04 '20 at 14:01
  • The 'British thing' seems as contentious to Brits as it does to everybody else. Your 'reference' is just a bunch of comments in a newspaper. Each to his/her own. All it has served is to prolong a whole series of equally opinionated comments in here & doesn't help the answer one bit. – Tetsujin Mar 04 '20 at 14:06
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I audit meat plants in the US and there is actually a thing called a meat wash sink. Red meat can legally be picked up off the floor and washed in a sink, but not with soap. I am agreeing this is pretty disgusting, but it is the case. I have done a similar thing and been fine, but do not do this in a restaurant please, it is not OK there. As long as you remove the soap you're fine, but if the water had old food or other items, then, well, that is not the best idea.

Kat
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Lin
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    If you tolerate this in a meat plant, why not in a restaurant? – bobuhito Mar 02 '20 at 01:00
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    @bobuhito Because then the cat is out of the bag. People in the modern day just freak out by the tiniest things. – tfrascaroli Mar 02 '20 at 13:46
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    @bobuhito Sink washed meat is the dollar store special. Paying for non-floor meat at a restaurant is an expectation. – MonkeyZeus Mar 02 '20 at 14:24
  • Restaurant grill-station cook, after dropping a NY strip on the floor: "No germ could survive that fall." *rinse and serve. – Beanluc Mar 02 '20 at 21:53
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    Do you have any source on the regulations that allow steak rinsing? – Alex D Mar 02 '20 at 22:55
  • @AlexD: Presumably it's allowed because water is Generally Recognized As Safe (Gras) in food, but soap isn't. – MSalters Mar 03 '20 at 12:10
  • All I can tell you is every red meat plant I visit has a "meat wash sink" it is allowed under USDA regs. I am not going to search the CFR to find that info for you sorry. – Lin Mar 03 '20 at 23:31
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    @AlexD I did look for guidance documents and found this reference in a USDA document. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/FSRE_SPS.pdf Again this is not me tolerating this is the USDA. If you dont like it call Sonny Purdue the Commissioner of the USDA. – Lin Mar 03 '20 at 23:39