We have always lived a really simple fresh organic life where we eat stuff that's just come out of the soil, ha bird poo on eggs etc. We cook meat well, and make sure areas used to prepare food is very clean but as to making food as sterile as possible I wouldn't dream of it, we pick apples off the tree and eat them without washing them for example, and we are never tummy buggy. If you are canning things in jars etc then as gingeebee says things need to be spotless but otherwise no.