Licky-likey?

A sketch of her cat, Cort, by Sarah Morrissey

Today I learned another totally useless but mildly interesting fact - why yes, I do collect them. Apparently 45% of people lick the lid of their yoghurt pot. 10% of people in the survey said they didn't eat yoghurt. This leaves a whopping 45% of people who don't lick the lid. Who are these people? And why?

I can only assume that they are of the 'younger generation' who don't buy their own groceries and are therefore quite content to waste someone else's money on uneaten dairy product. I also assume that their parents have not lived through an era of rationing so they have never received the lecture on the sin of food waste. Nor have they ever had the one about starving children in Africa. Or they simply have no shame.

Of course, I'm talking individual yoghurts here, not the big family-sized one, as that would be unhealthy and a bit odd. The only reason I can see for not licking the lid is because they used to be made of tin foil and if you tore that and then licked it you could cut your tongue. Hands up who's done that? Just me, then. Well, most of them now are that plastic sort of substance and it's very difficult to cause yourself a mischief with that.

I'm not sure that I know a single person who belongs to the non-lid-licking 45%. Even my cat licks the lid, and the empty pot for that matter, and he gets his little face stuck in there which is quite funny but he won't thank me for sharing that with you. So, if you are one of these mystery container top abstainers, could you please explain your reasoning? I'd really like to know.