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I worked in a Big Boy when I was in school back in the 80's, and we wiped the menus before putting them back in the rack every time. It isn't that difficult and takes less time than wiping the table.
About 99.99 % of the places I go to have paper menus , as for the rest I am prepared to be deeply heroic and take my life into my own hands and risk an unwipes menu.
I would also assume that if you are wiping each menu you need to change the cloth you are wiping it with almost every time ( as bacteria has a habit of breeding extremely fast and becoming resistant the more you throw at it) which seems a complete waste. Unless you are using throw away wipes which would be ridiculous, expensive, and an environmental disaster and a complete waste of resources.
Let's face it , stepping on a bus, attending a party, exchanging body fluids with your spouse, hugging friends, shaking hands, basically just stepping out every morning and encountering other human beings and ournatural environment means we are constantly bombarded with bacteria, and germs. Humans are germ factories, wiping menus or not. Basically living a normal life is taking chances with germs.
And by trying to resist all those germs we lower our immunity to them, and expose ourselves to far worse than the flu or a little dirt, we strip away our natural protection and make ourselves far more vulnerable to serious super bugs which are lethal.
Obviously I don't really want a sticky menu with ketchup stains all over it but a little common sense and perspective is still not a bad thing.
Being clean is one thing, I am borderline OCD in my own home and have had to teach myself to relax and let my standards drop a bit ( especially as I have a seriously compromised immune system) just so that I can teach my body to deal with a bit more and my mind to regain a little perspective.
I refuse to be held hostage by worries and fears about unknown "enemies" trying to get at me every time I eat something at a restaurant or a friend's house and follow my instincts.
I have eaten all over the world in street food stalls and in people's houses whose standards of housekeeping did not quite meet my exacting standards when it comes to my own house and it is one of the great joys of travelling. I would never deprive myself of these pleasures.
Life's for living and is far too short to see dangers lurking around every corner. A hair in my soup is not going to cause me to keel over and collapse in a big great heap, crying for my mommy that the world is out to get me. Not exactly something I wish to find in my soup but once again perspective, it is a fact of life and will not detract from my life !
People cook, People have hair, hair is notorious for falling in invisible strands often no matter how careful you are and hair will very occasionally fall in my food. Harldy the end of the world. I would prefer to have and extract one strand of hair from my food than expect people to wear hairnets to be honest. Until I find an actual clump of hair or an entire toupee in my soup I shall deal with it with as much "sang-froid" as I can muster and simply get on with life.
Wiping menus is not really that high on my list of things I want people to do in this world.
I worked in a Big Boy when I was in school back in the 80's, and we wiped the menus before putting them back in the rack every time. It isn't that difficult and takes less time than wiping the table.
Did you rinse out the cloth in perfectly clean water with every wipe? Did you use alcohol or another disinfectant?
Because otherwise you're just spreading germs from one menu to the other.
The premise just gets more and more ridiculous ...
Did you rinse out the cloth in perfectly clean water with every wipe? Did you use alcohol or another disinfectant?
Because otherwise you're just spreading germs from one menu to the other.
The premise just gets more and more ridiculous ...
We did use disinfectant, the same one used to clean the tables.
I don't live in a bubble and am not overly paranoid about restaurant sanitation. But I do believe that wiping the menus just as you wipe the tables is a good practice.
I have seen hostesses at Chili's and O'Charlie's standing at the host stand and wiping menus in between taking names and seating customers. They spray them lightly with the disinfectant from the bottle and wipe them off. It really isn't a big deal.
According to the CDC flu virus can survive on menus for up to 12 hours. A good restarant will wipe their menus.
IMO, it's far more likely to find cross contamination in a home kitchen than in a privately-owned restaurant. A good kitchen generally has excellent food safety training, better refrigeration/cold storage, safer food handling and sanitation.
That said, plenty don't. But having been in the business and subject to surprise inspections from our health dept, I can assuredly state the average home wouldn't pass the inspection.
I can assure you mine would not pass inspection. it is rare I let one little thing stop me from eating in a restaurant. I can think of only twice, that I was so appalled I would not return: One was a very popular hole in the wall hamburger place in lewisville, Tx. We had heard about the bugers for years,but just never tried them. One day, just before we moved I decided I had to taste one for myself...well, I did but the place was so filthy, grease everywhere, dirty pots under the counter and in plain sight, and the windows were filthy..I don't even remember if the burger was any good. The second time was recently. My daughter and I went to a very popular Japanese restaurant (a small chain) here locally, for lunch. I noticed as we walked in the place was pretty dirty, but I just blew it off as being a little dark. Asian restaurants are inclined to look dirty I think and I had eaten there many times before. Well the table was sticky, I used my napkin and a little water to sponge off what was spilled. OMG, I had never seen anything so discusting. I barely ate my lunch. I have been sorry ever since I didn't ask to speak to the manager..
I am certainly not going to worry about whether the menues have been wiped off or if there is a little lipstick on a glass. Obviously it has gone through a dishwasher. Yes, I would ask for a clean glass, but it wouldn't keep me from eating there again.
IMO, it's far more likely to find cross contamination in a home kitchen than in a privately-owned restaurant. A good kitchen generally has excellent food safety training, better refrigeration/cold storage, safer food handling and sanitation.
That said, plenty don't. But having been in the business and subject to surprise inspections from our health dept, I can assuredly state the average home wouldn't pass the inspection.
My concern is not that we have bacteria and viruses. We are surrounded by the stuff all the time. We are used to our own in our own kitchens. The problem is that in a public place, you don't know where the other people have been.
We used to live in New Jersey. For years we never went to New York. Then my husband got a job that required him to visit the City from time to time. Every time - EVERY time - he came home from one of those trips we both got ill.
The more contained your environment, the less chance of catching something that your body can't cope with.
People who live in New York even joke about strangers coming in and becoming ill. I guess, living in the City, your immune system eventually acclimates.
So, even though your own kitchen would not pass inspection, you are safer cooking at home probably.
At least I think this might be the case.
As far as inspectors go, most states require food handlers to wear hairnets. How many of the waitstaff do you see wearing them?
At least Mayor Bloomberg in New York has instituted this map so you can see the current health status of a restaurant. Places have been and are closed for too many violations.
In the U.S., I've only become sick after eating out about twice. I have eaten out every meal for months at a time, so I'm not necessarily restaraunt-naive. I've also usually taken my meals at independent restaurants, especially those serving more exotic cuisines. I do not consider sanitation a factor in my choice of restaurants.
In other countries, it varies. In Mexico, for example, I was sick with diarrhea for I don't know how many daIys out of my trip, probably as the result of eating at street vendors, or swallowing the water in the shower.
At least Mayor Bloomberg in New York has instituted this map so you can see the current health status of a restaurant. Places have been and are closed for too many violations.
I. also, usually don't think about it...can't say I'd NEVER eat at a place that was visible dirty, because both the Chinese take out places I usually go to are indeed visibly dirty in the outer wait area. One of those, that had flies on fly-strips, torn and tattered furniture, stained drop ceiling tiles, filthy floor (foot would stick to them) I have dropped. I'd only go to it once a year went I want home to my mom's house (it's the place we'd always ordered from growing up), and one time a few years I walked in led in and it finally hit me how DIRTY the place was. I walked in and was grossed out before I got to the counter.
It's one thing if while I'm waiting around with time on my hands -- happen to notice something here or there...and it maybe dawns on me how the place could be cleaner -- it's quite another if I walk into the place and I'm taken aback as the first thing I notice is how filthy it is.......THAT is too dirty for me.
Oddly enough, given that so much of eating out (as opposed to take out) is atmosphere and ambiance -- I think I'd give a take out place more leeway than a restaurant I'd sit-down eat in.
In other countries, it varies. In Mexico, for example, I was sick with diarrhea for I don't know how many daIys out of my trip, probably as the result of eating at street vendors, or swallowing the water in the shower.
I'm always surprised how many people are affected by Monctezuma's. Sidebar story - I lived in Mex City for a year (1993-94), never had the runs once while I was there. Neither did my Canadian roommate. We ate everything and lunched frequently on tortas at a fly-ridden cart up the street from our office (the staff used to order in Dominos 3x/week, and we couldn't stand that - especially that they all loved pineapple/ham as a topping).
Anyway, I had to go to Paris for business and took my wife. Sure enough, the day after I arrive I'm wiped out with some intestinal thing. Three days stuck on our cramped top floor room in a non-air conditioned pension. The only English-language programming on TV was CNN and as it happened, this was when OJ and Al decided to take a drive. After a day of that I was begging for some boring BBC programming on obscure fauna and flora.
After that passed and I managed a couple of healthy days in Paris, flew back to Mexico and never had an issue again.
I'm in the restuarant business. I've only worked at big chain places and never once saw anything that would give me the heebeejeebees and trust me, I'm anal.
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