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I stopped eating from salad bars when I saw a kid put both hands in the lettuce and play with it. His mom saw him, so did the restaurant workers, & no one said a word, soooo....
I went to a grocery store today that has a lot of nice food bars. I don't really worry about getting stuff from the hot food bar because I know I'm going to heat it later anyway so that should kill any germs. I generally avoid grocery store salad bars, but today I got some olives and I'm kind of afraid to eat them because I'm worried about possible contamination. Am I the only one who worries about this kind of stuff?
of curse you aren't but I do not understand why you would worry, What about a restaurant, they have the salad ingredients back in the kitchen, all ready to put salad together. Do you avoid ordering salads when you are out? Way too many people, worry way to much about contamination. I guess,, those of us over 70 remember what it was like eating in the days gone by. Most under 70 have no idea how things were kept then.
Well, perhaps there is no record of this having taken place at a grocery store, but the largest bio-terror attack in US history took place at several restaurant-based salad bars in--guess where?--the state of Oregon!
Because it did actually happen at several Oregon restaurants, then--clearly--the potential exists for something like this to happen at any facility. Do I eat at salad bars? Yes, I do, but the potential still exists for contamination, and I essentially hope for the best.
Last week, at the soup bar at my local Whole Foods, there was a strange old man wearing a Deerstalker Cap, and I observed him ladling-out small quantities of Chicken Noodle Soup, and then picking pieces of chicken out of the ladle. I immediately changed my plan to have soup for lunch that day, although the extremely high temperature of their soup bar probably served to kill whatever microbes he had on his hands.
And--yes--the brine in which the olives are marinated is pretty much capable of destroying disease organisms, due to its composition of both vinegar and salt.
yes, these things do happen: breakouts of noro virus on ships; do we all stop cruising? breakouts of stomach flue (the same thing) at schools, do we keep out kids home from school? Germs are everywhere, do we stop flying because there could be all kinds of germs on seats, the trays, etc? I guess, I just don't have time to worry about all the "what ifs" I do know many people do worry and if they do, maybe they are better off not eating at salad bars. Now as for the guy and the chicken soup, I would be bothered by that as well. It probably boils down to what we actually see, not what could be. Bulk bins are the thing that bothers me the most. As for people seeing kids playing with the salad bar foods, I guess I have been lucky, I have eaten at buffets, salad bars, etc for 50 plus years, never seen anyone do something like that.
I stopped eating from salad bars when I saw a kid put both hands in the lettuce and play with it. His mom saw him, so did the restaurant workers, & no one said a word, soooo....
Some stores have machines where one can "freshly grind" peanut butter, rather than buying the packaged stuff in jars.
Sounds good, right?
I thought so too, until the day when I saw a kid run his fingers over the spout where the fresh peanut butter emerges, lick his fingers, and then repeat his rubbing of the spout.
Never again will I buy freshly-ground peanut butter!
I go to buffets quite frequently but only stick to the piping hot food items. Over the years I have had too many bouts of food poisoning from cold items like salads from restaurants. At a local Italian pizzeria as I was waiting for my order I saw a cook in the back preparing a salad without any gloves. I don't think most people realize now dirty restaurants are, particularly the non-chain ones that tend to be less strict with hygeine.
of curse you aren't but I do not understand why you would worry, What about a restaurant, they have the salad ingredients back in the kitchen, all ready to put salad together. Do you avoid ordering salads when you are out? Way too many people, worry way to much about contamination. I guess,, those of us over 70 remember what it was like eating in the days gone by. Most under 70 have no idea how things were kept then.
No, I love ordering salads when I go to restaurants. The difference is that those salads aren't left out exposed to the general public and I assume that the restaurant employees are following proper procedures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by s1alker
I go to buffets quite frequently but only stick to the piping hot food items. Over the years I have had too many bouts of food poisoning from cold items like salads from restaurants. At a local Italian pizzeria as I was waiting for my order I saw a cook in the back preparing a salad without any gloves. I don't think most people realize now dirty restaurants are, particularly the non-chain ones that tend to be less strict with hygeine.
Yeah, this is what I'm talking about. It's not salad specifically that I'm worried about- just any food that I won't be heating later that is left exposed to the general public to serve themselves. I know lots of food at restaurants gets prepared without gloves though, but I wouldn't really worry about that too much because I assume they've washed their hands.
I buy out of bulk bins all the time. I've never gotten anything off a salad bar in a grocery but I do from restaurants all the time. Also lunch buffets.
Clearly it hasn't killed me. I've never even had an illness correlated with - let alone actually caused by - such.
We have a few salad restaurants around here where everything is prepared by the workers, you say what you want and they assemble it. So you get to enjoy customizing your salad without having to put up with the salad bar being manhandled by thoughtless customers.
I know lots of food at restaurants gets prepared without gloves though, but I wouldn't really worry about that too much because I assume they've washed their hands.
Several years ago, I was in an Applebee's restaurant, and right after ordering our food, I went to the men's restroom. I was dismayed to find that the sinks had only cold water, the soap dispensers were empty, and the paper towel dispenser was also empty. Then, a kitchen worker emerged from one of the toilet stalls, and without even an attempt at running some water over his hands, he opened the door and walked out.
Luckily, I had a tissue in my pocket with which to open the door. Then, I found my waitress, canceled our food order, and we left.
Whether that kitchen worker would have washed his hands if there had been soap, I will never know, but that Applebee's clearly did not deserve my business as a result of their total inattention to maintaining the restroom.
More recently, at a Panera, I observed an employee who wore his food prep apron into the men's room, and who simply pushed it out of the way while he used the urinal. Then, without washing his hands, he exited the restroom. I reported what I had observed to the manager, and then left that place.
In any event, I think that assuming hand washing on the part of kitchen workers is not necessarily appropriate, given what I have observed on more than one occasion over the years.
Several years ago, I was in an Applebee's restaurant, and right after ordering our food, I went to the men's restroom. I was dismayed to find that the sinks had only cold water, the soap dispensers were empty, and the paper towel dispenser was also empty. Then, a kitchen worker emerged from one of the toilet stalls, and without even an attempt at running some water over his hands, he opened the door and walked out.
Luckily, I had a tissue in my pocket with which to open the door. Then, I found my waitress, canceled our food order, and we left.
Whether that kitchen worker would have washed his hands if there had been soap, I will never know, but that Applebee's clearly did not deserve my business as a result of their total inattention to maintaining the restroom.
More recently, at a Panera, I observed an employee who wore his food prep apron into the men's room, and who simply pushed it out of the way while he used the urinal. Then, without washing his hands, he exited the restroom. I reported what I had observed to the manager, and then left that place.
In any event, I think that assuming hand washing on the part of kitchen workers is not necessarily appropriate, given what I have observed on more than one occasion over the years.
I just don't worry about it since I've never had any bad experiences or witnessed anything gross.
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I immediately changed my plan to have soup for lunch that day, although the extremely high temperature of their soup bar probably served to kill whatever microbes he had on his hands.
