Ok a few weeks ago I went to sonic to get a drink, there was an employee right outside the door smoking. Then when he finished he went inside without washing his hands or putting on gloves then started handling food. I called and complained, the manager said that he would address the issue. He offered me a free meal and asked that I give him another chance because he just started at that store.
Well today I went back to get a drink, and I watched as the SAME guy from a few weeks ago was handling the food with no gloves. I know that in the state of Kansas all employees handling food are to wear gloves. This was really bothering me.
Then I really got to thinking how whenever I do go to lets say McDonalds the employees who get the fries and put them in the bag do not wear gloves. This really grosses me out because the employee touches the fries with their fingers everytime.
Well for lunch I decided to get McDonalds, I went inside and I asked the employee that took my order to make sure whoever handles my food to please wear gloves. He asked the guy who was getting my food, and then one of the other employees said "WHY", "WHO", then she came over to me with an attitude, and said " Why do you want us to wear gloves, we have our own guidlines here and we dont have to wear gloves" I told her that I was the customer and if I want them to wear gloves that is my right, and if they were feeding my family I expect my food to be germ free. I even pointed out the employee who was handling the fries was also touching the fries. She was extremely mad at me, and started complaining to ALL the employees about me in spanish too. All the employees were staring at me and so were the customers.
I have never been so embarrassed, and I think the way she treated me was wrong. I called the health department and the lady confirmed what I already knew. I think I am going to stop eating out, I really do need to learn how to cook ... lol !!!
So am I being to paranoid about the employees touching my food or are my reasons justified ? That employee made me feel like I had done something wrong and I dont believe I did.
I had called the health department and was told that all employees handeling "cooked" food are to wear gloves. If they are lets say getting pizza dough ready they do not have to wear gloves, but once the food is cooked they have to.
Thanks for all of your input. I know fast food is gross anyway, but what I know doesnt hurt me .... lol !!! If I see their fingers touching my food I cant eat the food then. I have been relying on fast food for so long, but I think I am giving it up now. I will just teach myself how to cook, or make simple items that wont take long. Thanks again !
I sent the health department out to both places, Sonic failed there inspection due to not wearing gloves, but McDonalds passed theres on the fries issue. They do have guide lines with the fry container and the supervisor that yelled at me was not even following the guild lines. I find that funny !!!
For what its worth- I think we could all stand to be more wary on this issue. Thanks for bringing it up.
Yes, I agree with Lori about the food. We eat fast food as little as possible and refuse to go to McDonalds b/c of their food and different things that they stand for.
I used to work in the food service and we did not wear gloves, however, I did scrub my hands in between EVERYTHING I did. Ecspecially handeling the money and then going back to fix the food. I still practice this today in my own kitchen. My MIL does not practice this and it grosses me out! She is an amazing cook but has no clean habbits in the kitchen. I cannot watch her cook or I can't eat the food. I am completely with you on the paranoia but Lori is right, when it comes to fast food, there are far worse things to be worried about. Learning to cook is a wonderful thing, ecspecially for the furture health of your family. I'm actually in the process of a new lifestyle of eating for myself. I have always thought to cook well for my family, but I 'm trying to take it to the next level. Why is cancer, diabetes so common now? I think and big part is the answer is in the food we consume in this nation. There are some that I'm sure are doing much better at the way they cook than me, but I am trying to become more careful of what I put into our bodies.
Back to the matter at hand, I understand why you would want them to wear gloves, but also think about that the same problem can exist if they are not changing the gloves. I'm not trying to make it worse for your peace of mind but the reality is changing habbits not gloves or no gloves. Unfortunatly, the only real control we have as the consumer, is to eat there or not.
Good Luck!
i absolutely agree with sarah and lori! it is a horrible downhill spiral if you start thinking about ALL the gross reasons we should NOT be eating fast food - hand-washing is just one small part of it. and i also agree about all the diseases we have now - everything we eat (and not just from fast food restaurants - grocery stores too!) is chock-full of chemicals and hormones. it's awful. and terribly depressing if you think about it too much.
i don't want to get too deep into that - i honestly feel my only option would be to buy some acreage out in the middle of nowhere and raise my OWN food, and be completely self-sufficient. but then you'd have to worry about all the chemicals in the water, air, and soil that have already been put there! see? it's a no-win situation.
what i really want to say is, if it makes you feel better, i know that subway restaurants (and i think a few others, but don't know which- i only ever worked for subway) require their employees to wear gloves. of course you can't guarantee anything behind the counters where you can't see, but they're required to have them on if they are touching food at all, even prepping in the back. i know there are others that also enforce this (subway did it back before it was a law. i worked for them when the new law came into effect) so maybe you can just pay attention and see which ones are good about it, and only go there. trust me, paranoia is a black hole you don't want to get into! but there are common sense things you can do. learing to cook would be a good one, too! lol. good luck girl.
I have worked in many resturants. Hand washing is VERY important. People who cashier or wait tables cannot prepare food cause money & other things in the front of the store cannot be cross contaminated. That guy who took that cigarette break should have washed his hands. In all resturants whether its fast food or a fancy resturant or anything in between cooks do not wear gloves. There are certain people for certain stations. Like the grill cook doesn't prep vegetables. The prep cook is exactly that. That way they are only touching 1 kind of food. Cross contamination can make people sick. If you notice in the bathrooms in resturants there is a sign that says "All employees must wash hands before returning to work." There are signs with instructions on proper hand washing at the specificed hand washing sinks in the back. The health department and the owners or corporations of all resturants have very strict guidelines, but if you want someone to not just wash their hands, but wear gloves to prepare your food don't eat out. That is really impossible, cause if you had to change gloves as often as you wash your hands in the back of a resturant each person in the back would go through 100 pairs of gloves a day per shift--prices would skyrocket just to pay for the gloves not to mention all the trash that would acculmulate. Gloves are rubber--not good for the environment. So, yes in a way you are being too paranoid, but I agree. I don't care where you work, everytime you take a break you need to wash your hands. I don't care whether you use the bathroom or not.
eating out is a lot grosser than we all realize.
If you only knew how many bugs we eat that are just in food you buy at the grocery store, you'd probably be more grossed out than someones hand touching your fries. You may want to consider growing your own garden. I've thought about it too.
I don't think you are being wrong. I think about that everytime I order food, when someone touches the cash register then my money then my food. Uh oh, hope I don't give you more to fret about!! I give you a high five for starting up a stink about it. I guess if more people did that, maybe things would change. Or maybe just use the drive up, and read a book when you're in the line, then you can't see whats going on!!! :)
The state of KS does not require them to wear gloves. I don't want to gross you out more but they can still wipe their nose, pick their nose, touch a dirty surface with the gloves on and then touch your fries.
I don't think you asking for it was wrong, but I don't think your food would have been any safer with the gloves on.
The only reason why gloves are important in the medical field is really to protect the doctors and nurses. Also they change their gloves whenever they touch a non steril surface or item. Nothing is steril in the fast food world.
