My oldest daughter’s latest favourite TV show is Cake Boss, a TLC show about life in a bakery (don’t ask why… I guess it’s better than John and Kate Plus 8). On a recent episode, they were making a cake for a circus sideshow and one of the performers appeared in the bakery’s kitchen with a large albino snake. It makes for good entertainment but it’s a break with common sense and presumably health codes.

Reptiles should never be allowed in a kitchen, let alone a commercial kitchen (especially one that presumably prepares items often eaten by children). Contact with reptiles is a significant risk factor for salmonellosis, and cross contamination is a concern in kitchens. All pets should be kept out of food preparation areas, but particular care should be taken around high risk species like reptiles, and every reptile should be assumed to be carrying Salmonella.