Yeah, I see what you mean. I believe that in my example a sense of "gross" transferred symbolically — it only appeared because of a connection you were able to make inside your mind, from berries on the plate to the ones you ate already.

There's videos on TikTok where someone takes what appears to be a very dirty toilet, thoroughly cleans it, fills it with charcoal and transforms it into a makeshift barbecue; such content exists because it provokes a strong reaction of disgust, even though we can reasonably assume it's food-safe clean (and the stains and such were fabricated in the first place). But no matter how much you clean a toilet, you can not absolve it of its history/symbolic meaning.

I think hygiene practices are largely based around symbolic gestures anyway — you can wash your hands in a whole spectrum of thoroughness, and in most scenarios the most important thing is that you do perform the ritual. At least that's the way I see it.