I want to start by saying that I worked in fast food multi-level management for a number of years and am therefore fairly well-versed in health dept regulations as well as having one of the first food handlers permits issued in my state.

It just amazes me every time I see someone pick up a paper cup with their hands on the rim- a clear violation. Secondly, drink cups should not be used as ice scoops-there should be an actual ice scoop with the handle not inside the ice.

My next peeve is having someone sweep around the table where I am eating, stirring up dust and debris.

And then there is hair: Many people pull their hair back but have long bangs and wispy tendrils hanging out loose.
There is a current style for young males- think a mop with a bowl cut (Patrick Mahome inspiration) that leaves hair hanging out over food.

Nails should be short and neatly groomed. This is a tough one as I like to wear a bit of polish myself. The issue is with the really long nails and those with decorative enhancements, both of which are breeding grounds for dirt and debris. (I see these in Dr. offices also.)

And, lastly, those pesky table kiosks that are never sanitized. They are played with by toddlers, the same ones who throw the menus on the floor. I am wondering if I need to carry a container of sanitizer wipes for future dining.

I try to note these issues on all my reports and hope that you will, too. Maybe together we can increase awareness and change for the better.

Thank you.

I have asked several times for a clean cup after the cashier puts their fingers INSIDE the cup to remove it from the stack. Once I even had to ask the same person twice for a clean cup because they put their fingers inside the second cup, too.

I also hate when the employees run their filthy glove-covered hands through their hair, or across the counter, or adjust their clothing and don't change their gloves. Those gloves are for OUR (the customer) protection, to keep contaminates off our food, not so employees can touch stuff willy-nilly and not get there own hands dirty!

I especially hated when the Subway workers would put jalepenos on the sandwich ahead of mine and not change gloves before picking up the next loaf of bread. I don't want jalepenos, or their juice, on my sandwich! A manager yelled at me for asking the sandwich artist to change gloves before making my sandwich, saying I should have told her and had her tell the artist to change gloves.

I sometimes wonder about all those 'Serve-Safe' certifications on the wall of restaurants, because most employees do not adhere to proper food handling techniques.

And yes, I do mention these things when the report allows it (not all have a comment box, unfortunately). Very few (Panda seems to be the only exception) even acknowledge that food contamination is a possibility.

The glove thing! Yes! The only one protected is the wearer. They touch money, food, raw stuff and everything else with the same gloves.

Is it all the internet posing and vanity that has made it perfectly ok for youngish women to always be carressing, combing, flipping their hair with the same hands they'll serve your food with?

I can't even tell you how many times I've seen small children put the entire top end of the salt shaker in their mouths. It must taste good to them. Sometimes it the pepper, which turns out to be an entertaining teaching moment.

@sestrahelena wrote:

The glove thing! Yes! The only one protected is the wearer. They touch money, food, raw stuff and everything else with the same gloves.

Is it all the internet posing and vanity that has made it perfectly ok for youngish women to always be carressing, combing, flipping their hair with the same hands they'll serve your food with?

I can't even tell you how many times I've seen small children put the entire top end of the salt shaker in their mouths. It must taste good to them. Sometimes it the pepper, which turns out to be an entertaining teaching moment.

I sat in a restaurant yesterday and watched a toddler throw every menu (4 of them) on the floor.

@HoomanShopper wrote:

I have asked several times for a clean cup after the cashier puts their fingers INSIDE the cup to remove it from the stack. Once I even had to ask the same person twice for a clean cup because they put their fingers inside the second cup, too.

I also hate when the employees run their filthy glove-covered hands through their hair, or across the counter, or adjust their clothing and don't change their gloves. Those gloves are for OUR (the customer) protection, to keep contaminates off our food, not so employees can touch stuff willy-nilly and not get there own hands dirty!

I especially hated when the Subway workers would put jalepenos on the sandwich ahead of mine and not change gloves before picking up the next loaf of bread. I don't want jalepenos, or their juice, on my sandwich! A manager yelled at me for asking the sandwich artist to change gloves before making my sandwich, saying I should have told her and had her tell the artist to change gloves.

I sometimes wonder about all those 'Serve-Safe' certifications on the wall of restaurants, because most employees do not adhere to proper food handling techniques.

And yes, I do mention these things when the report allows it (not all have a comment box, unfortunately). Very few (Panda seems to be the only exception) even acknowledge that food contamination is a possibility.

Hooman- I, too have politely asked if I can have another cup that hasn't been manhandled but am always met with quizzical looks. ( I actually took the time to explain to one person this is a health code violation. They thanked me and said they had never been told that.)

Some reports have a space for anything not previously covered and I use this diligently.

I left money-handling off the list, but this is another nasty habit cashiers aren't trained to understand.

I hear ya!!
All good observations of things that frequently, the general public never takes notice of.

Just took the food handlers test recently myself (then realized I still need to take the Food Manger's test to qualify for a Cottage Food cert.) which for me was all common sense type information - but then I learned aseptic technique as a young person working in a hospital (always move from clean to dirty, never touch anything not sterile with your gloved hands etc).

I also used to be a supervisor of food demo ladies in grocery stores and absolutely cringed when I realized that they thought because they were "protected" by wearing gloves that this also protected other people no matter what they touched with those gloves (because their skin wasn't in contact with the food they think it is all good).

I watched a worker arranging food samples on a plate, wearing her gloves, then stoop down to pick up a dirty tissue from the floor and go right back to arranging food.
When I explained to her that she had to change gloves if she touched something dirty she looked at me with blank expression and arguled that she was "protected" by the gloves.

OMG.

Hooman- and then there are workers who are scooping food from a large container to a smaller one. Hooray, they wear gloves! Boo, the food goes over the top of the gloves and spills from their arms to the smaller container.

Yes, the gloves thing is a particular problem in my eyes. They touch everything, then touch your food- but it's okay because they have gloves on. haha

I haven't shopped or even dined at a Chipotle for years but they were the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread. I saw MANY instances of Chipotle workers wearing gloves while cleaning tables or emptying the trash and then handling food without changing gloves!

I was at a Can Am pizza today and got garlic bread. The cashier took my cash and then started handling the bread with her bare hands after touching the register and the cash. Earlier this morning, I was at a cafe and the woman was wearing gloves while preparing food and handling payments. The gloves looked gross too. Don't they get training on this or are they just lazy?

In defense of the abuse of gloves. When I was working at Jack in the Box 40+ years ago. There were no gloves, we were told to wash our hands after using the restroom. And the cashiers were not supposed to handle unwrapped food.

The management got weird about us washing our hands too often, said we were using too much soap, or they made snide remarks about never being at our stations because we were always at the handwashing station or the sinks (I lasted 2 weeks). There are bad managers that get weird about changing gloves every minute, I have seen it with my own eyes at Chipotle and 5 Guys, and my own experience.

It's not always the employees' fault. End of defending failures.

Quick question: did any of you get sick during or from the experiences you described?

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Quick question: did any of you get sick during or from the experiences you described?

I can't say that I have personally been sick, but I can't rule it out. What I can tell you is that I have been in restaurant management when hepatitis outbreaks occurred and it is a very serious life-threatening situation.

I have been sick from restaurants before but don't know if it was from improper food handling or if the ingredients were spoiled.

I have requested a new glass when it is refilled from a pitcher that rests ON THE RIM, the place where it presumably was on all the previous glasses.

I went to a Jimmy Johns many years ago and the sandwich maker was whistling over my food while he was making it. It was disgusting. I told him to forget it and left. Why would anyone think it is okay to blow over food like that?

Totally gross. All violations!

It is really difficult to tell where people get sick from. Many years ago a group of about 10 of us ate at a fast food place together. At least 4 people ate the same dish. Two of them got sick. The other two did not. They claimed food poisoning. It was interesting to me that both of those were friends who were perennially ill with some stomach bug or something.
What bothers me much more is restaurants who grill seafood and then slap a burger or something else on the same grill. Sometimes this is behind the scenes where you cannot see. I wonder how many times those with seafood allergies will get sick from this practice. And I feel the same way about restaurants who have certified vegetarian or vegan options and they just grill everything on the same grill. At least in that case the eater will not get ill from it.

I've had toddlers, so I am no longer super concerned with germs. Unless it's super gross something in my food. My thought is there are germs everywhere, so I'm the one that should be washing my hands ad nauseum.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2024 07:42PM by nellybean212.

When I was a little kid growing up mid last century I remember my mom telling me about some mother in the neighborhood who would carry a wet washcloth around and wipe her childs hands when ever they touched anything. This was before wet wipes and even plastic bags I think. The moral of the story was that this kid was always sick because the baby never got to build up a natural immunity to germs. I have no idea if any of this was true...We had the 60 second rule about things falling on the floor and being edible althou if toast with jam fell jam side down I did not eat it. So I am not at all sensitive to any of the things listed here.
and I rarely get sick. I always say I have a cast iron stomach.
Yes I do agree that sanitation rules should be adhered to but a menu or table top ad not wiped down after every visit and some of the other things listed here do not bother me at all. I would hate to have to pay more so that someone has the full time job of wiping down menus after every table change. You who feel this way are in luck as most restaurants around here have QR codes instead of paper/plastic coated menus. Coming to a restaurant near you soon.
But while you are looking at your phone please make sure not to put it down on the table and wipe it down each time you remove it from its germy location in your purse or where ever you left it last. I understand there are some people much more susceptible to getting sick than I am so if you are one of them, just be careful out there. quote=nellybean212]
I've had toddlers, so I am no longer super concerned with germs. Unless it's super gross something in my food. My thought is there are germs everywhere, so I'm the one that should be washing my hands ad nauseum.[/quote]

We live in a toxic- and litigation mad- world.

I also have children and have seen my fair share of ickiness. However, I hold people preparing my food to a higher standard. I don't actually care if they're wearing gloves, but do care if they're handling cash, opening doors, wiping their face, and then start preparing my food without washing hands. (Yes, I saw this happen at two places). I would never do that in my own kitchen when preparing meals. I like to watch sushi chefs prepare dishes and they never use gloves. But the only thing they do is prepare food, not handle anything else. A lot of restaurants are understaffed and have to resort to taking shortcuts in hygiene.

Ironically, the incidences of foodborne illnesses have gone down since COVID. We are as a society washing our hands more and paying more attention to germs. Stomach viruses and food poisoning are bad, but I don't think you can have immunity to food poisoning. I have some experience, as I mentioned, with Hepatitis A. I have never had an outbreak in a restaurant I personally managed, but I have had to quarantine employees who had been exposed (in those days you did not take off without pay- it meant lost wages if you could not work.) I have also been in cities where there were major outbreaks that shut down restaurants and sent many people to hospitals. I have seen restaurants have to close down permanently due to bad publicity. I once worked with a woman whose husband had contracted Hepatitis A and he had died ( they never knew how he contracted it.) One of my college roommates contracted it, likely from cafeteria food. This disease is highly contagious and can start with one person not washing their hands after going to the bathroom. I think we have a right to expect our food handlers to be properly trained and to follow procedures.

Hence those signs, employees wash your hands in the restroom.

As if they work.

And then the movies that show in slow motion how one event causes another event which causes a third event and so on.

At washing your hands after you use the restrooms is a joke. I've gone into restaurants. Fast food, sit down restaurants doesn't really make a difference. There's no soap in the dispensers in the restrooms. I bring it to somebody's attention and ask how the staff is washing their hands, then refuse to buy food there.

@Threemom wrote:

I have requested a new glass when it is refilled from a pitcher that rests ON THE RIM, the place where it presumably was on all the previous glasses.

One of my gut-wrenching moments was visiting one of my grandmother's favorite restaurants on Mondays for their special. Met up with my brother's friend and his mother (also a widow, like grandma). On more than one visit over the years, I saw a busser pick up an iced tea pitcher by grabbing the spout with his hand (thumb in the spout, into the pitcher, palm and fingers under the spout), and then proceeding to go to our table, switch hands to hold the pitcher by the handle, and then refill our tea. The level of the tea in the pitcher was below the spout, so he didn't have his thumb in the actual tea, but the germ transmission - coupled with the complete nonchalance - was enough to make me want to hurl. The handle was in perfect condition...the only issue was that the tea pitcher was facing him, so it was 0.2 seconds quicker to grab the spout with his hand-even though it wasn't nearly as sure of a grip as grabbing the handle!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2024 07:37PM by STL_shopper.

@STL_shopper wrote:

I saw a busser pick up an iced tea pitcher by grabbing the spout with his hand (thumb in the spout, into the pitcher, palm and fingers under the spout), and then proceeding to go to our table, switch hands to hold the pitcher by the handle, and then refill our tea.

-retches-