 You could be touching your phone with bacteria from a raw meat product and then not sanitizing your phone, and then, you know, you just go on with your regular life, touching everything with your phone. Ooh, so Meredith says we need to wash our hands before we start any food prep and immediately after we've touched any raw meat or poultry product or the juices from them. Hand washing can help prevent food poisoning, which can cause quite a lot of discomfort. But it could also be as severe as causing death.