Food rules

Now-a-days, there seem to be more and more rules governing the handling of food, what with all the sell by dates, use by dates, the way fresh meat mustn`t be in a counter next to bacon, or bacon next to cooked meat. That food should be handled with tongs and not hands. Obviously some of these are very necessary, but it makes me wonder two things.
Firstly how did all our ancestors survive to their 80`s and 90`s without all these rules and regulations!? In their days, butchers had an old wooden chopping block, which they scrubbed down, (now not allowed) and sawdust on the floor (yes, I`m old enough to remember going in one regularly like that!) There were no "dates" on food, one used one`s common sense as to whether something was good to eat, or if it was past its best. Good food didn`t get thrown out because it was “past the date”, even though there`s nothing wrong with it.

The second thing?.... I`ll tell you tomorrow.