I am also disturbed about the fact that there are still many pubs that allow smoking at the bar! It is only a matter of time before this antiquated habit is banished from our pubs for ever, hallelujah! But in the meanwhile those working behind bars and also those trying to purchase a drink have no choice but to suck in this particular pollution.
I get really wound up that certain issues just mentioned are ignored, but yet the easy hit like how long a piece of meat can be left out of the fridge before cooking is vehemently adhered to. In France the usual crack-pot European initiatives are listened to but rarely acted on, as they have a much more liberal view on enforcement. I regularly cross the channel to "La Belle France" and it always amazes me that a steak on their soil tastes so good; beef from Scotland is the best in the world, but how come it is cooked so much better over there? I suspect because we are so scared by European requirements that we never take a piece of meat out before we are about to cook it whilst the French restaurateurs actually let the meat reach a warm temperature before cooking. When I think back to my youth we used to occasionally have a tummy upset. Now it is all kinds of things like salmonella poisoning and the like. Poppycock to me, too much nanny state but in the meanwhile whilst I am happy to dice with death over a piece of meat, please, publican, adopt the CAMRA stance on which part of a glass the staff hold, particularly if they have recently escaped for a quick drag or even visited the loo!