Do You Eat From The Candy Bowl?

Mrs. HowChow took one look at the bowl on the way out of House of India and said, "Two words: Herb Denenberg."

Twenty years ago, Denenberg was a television reporter famous in Philadelphia for consumer investigations like hidden-camera stings of street vendors. That cheesesteak vendor didn't wash his hands! That soft pretzel was covered in bacteria!! Looks what we cultured from the egg sandwich that we bought near Independence Hall!!!

But I love those fennel seeds at the door of most Indian restaurants. The licorice taste. The candy-coated crunch. A spoonful cleans your mouth, and they're delicious.

Mrs. HowChow doesn't touch the fennel seeds. Nothing against House of India. She worries about the dozens of people who touch any bowl of unwrapped candies. She thinks "bacteria" and "unwashed hands." She remembers Denenberg, and even more, Mrs. HowChow is actually Dr. HowChow -- so she knows her bacteria and her infections.

I cling to my ignorance (and have such clean breath)!