THORNTONS - shame on you!!!

Lady_K

Not chocolate related but I once went into a butchers shop on a summers day. There was a fly in the shop and the woman serving got a can of fly spray and sprayed it heavily all over the meat in the window as she frantically followed the fly around it. She got as close as an inch away from the meat and all the meat in the window got visibly covered in it. I couldn't believe it she wasn't bothered at all and when she finally killed it she smiled with relief then turned to me and said right what would you like. I said I had changed my mind and left the shop

hollydays

For a similar reason i suggest no-one ever buy loose,unwrapped pick and mix from anywhere eg Woolies-tis not a pleasant story.

thorntonsgal

gregg1 wrote:

thanks for that - your (or anything else!) quote had me laughing out loud!!! I am also assuming when you say they would have to clean and sterilise it you are referring to the fountain?????

Its a good idea though, maybe Thorntons should think about doing this - I won't be going near it again till they do.

I work at Thorntons and we have to clean and sterilise the fountain every night, also if it becomes contaminated. If we didn't the manager would sack us. We also have strict cleaning routines that are inspected every morning.
At least with our chocolate fountains you can see that it is clean. If you have ever eaten in a restaurant you do not have that assurance and as someone that has seen what goes on in some restaurants I think you'd be disgusted! (especially fast food places, the staff there are awful).

A big problem is that a lot of kids try to stick their fingers in and their parents don't even try to stop them or tell them off! They just shrug and say "oh well, that's kids for you".
Sadly, food is never going to be 100% hygienic unless you make it in your own home. And maybe it shouldn't be? If you live in completely clean surrundings it can damage your immune system.

The fountain is just a bit of fun, you're not going to get ill or get a disease from it!
The fountains are also heated to 158 degrees so that would kill any germs that did enter the chocolate.

hjb123

thorntonsgal wrote:

I work at Thorntons and we have to clean and sterilise the fountain every night, also if it becomes contaminated. If we didn't the manager would sack us. We also have strict cleaning routines that are inspected every morning.
At least with our chocolate fountains you can see that it is clean. If you have ever eaten in a restaurant you do not have that assurance and as someone that has seen what goes on in some restaurants I think you'd be disgusted! (especially fast food places, the staff there are awful).

A big problem is that a lot of kids try to stick their fingers in and their parents don't even try to stop them or tell them off! They just shrug and say "oh well, that's kids for you".
Sadly, food is never going to be 100% hygienic unless you make it in your own home. And maybe it shouldn't be? If you live in completely clean surrundings it can damage your immune system.

The fountain is just a bit of fun, you're not going to get ill or get a disease from it!
The fountains are also heated to 158 degrees so that would kill any germs that did enter the chocolate.

Yeah we agree the fountain is a bit of fun but the OP says that the one they saw wasnt allowed to be used because Thorntons complained - and it was all in aid of charity too! Wouldnt you have thought they could allow it - it was for charity and as you rightly say its fun!

wobbley

hjb123 wrote:

Yeah we agree the fountain is a bit of fun but the OP says that the one they saw wasnt allowed to be used because Thorntons complained - and it was all in aid of charity too! Wouldnt you have thought they could allow it - it was for charity and as you rightly say its fun!

Oh, if it's for "charity" it must be ok then? I guess they had been given the pitch for free, and the people running it were unpaid volunteers. And the charity concerned was not one of the big national "Lets spend all our revenue on paying ourselves and advertising how good we are" ones. Hmmm, - I doubt it, but then again I'm a sceptical sod anyway!
Also, if what Thorntonsgal said is right then let 'em stick their fingers in a few times. With gooey chocolate at 158 degrees they could text all their mates while they are on their way to A&E and tell them not to do it. Word would soon spread.

sunflower_2

hya

the incident happened in the metrocentre
i happened to be back there the other night and passed the thorntons choccy fountain
of course my ickle one wanted one

but £2.50 for 2 bits of marshmallow and 3 bits of fudge dipped in cheap chocolate????

they must be making a decent profit there.... tight wads

gregg1

thorntonsgal wrote:

I work at Thorntons and we have to clean and sterilise the fountain every night, also if it becomes contaminated. If we didn't the manager would sack us. We also have strict cleaning routines that are inspected every morning.
At least with our chocolate fountains you can see that it is clean. If you have ever eaten in a restaurant you do not have that assurance and as someone that has seen what goes on in some restaurants I think you'd be disgusted! (especially fast food places, the staff there are awful).

A big problem is that a lot of kids try to stick their fingers in and their parents don't even try to stop them or tell them off! They just shrug and say "oh well, that's kids for you".
Sadly, food is never going to be 100% hygienic unless you make it in your own home. And maybe it shouldn't be? If you live in completely clean surrundings it can damage your immune system.

The fountain is just a bit of fun, you're not going to get ill or get a disease from it!



Well actually, the chocolate fountain at my local thorntons was not very clean at all seeing as a kid had just sneezed into it from 4” away. You are right, we all have to be subjected to some kind of germs for our own immunity sake, but when you see it happening right in front of you, I defy anyone to go straight over and dip their marshmallow (or whatever else they are holding?) in it two minutes later! As for restaurants, its true that what you don’t see etc….., I am sure I would never eat out again if I knew what was really going on with my food BUT, I do know what happened to the Thornton’s chocolate fountain and, surprisingly, snot flavoured chocolate is actually NOT on my list of “100 things to taste before I die” – so pardon me if I opt out of that one for now!!!

Interestingly, at a big shopping centre recently, I saw a chocolate fountain which was protected by a Perspex cover protecting it from the publics’ offerings – good idea I thought.

gregg1

sunflower wrote:

hya

the incident happened in the metrocentre
i happened to be back there the other night and passed the thorntons choccy fountain
of course my ickle one wanted one

but £2.50 for 2 bits of marshmallow and 3 bits of fudge dipped in cheap chocolate????

they must be making a decent profit there.... tight wads

yeah - I thought they were a bit pricy as well

thorntonsgal

gregg1 wrote:

Well actually, the chocolate fountain at my local thorntons was not very clean at all seeing as a kid had just sneezed into it from 4” away. You are right, we all have to be subjected to some kind of germs for our own immunity sake, but when you see it happening right in front of you, I defy anyone to go straight over and dip their marshmallow (or whatever else they are holding?) in it two minutes later! As for restaurants, its true that what you don’t see etc….., I am sure I would never eat out again if I knew what was really going on with my food BUT, I do know what happened to the Thornton’s chocolate fountain and, surprisingly, snot flavoured chocolate is actually NOT on my list of “100 things to taste before I die” – so pardon me if I opt out of that one for now!!!

Interestingly, at a big shopping centre recently, I saw a chocolate fountain which was protected by a Perspex cover protecting it from the publics’ offerings – good idea I thought.

The worker in that shop should have closed it down if someone sneezed into it that directly.
You can't tar everyone with the same brush just because one person in the whole country made a mistake!

gregg1

thorntonsgal wrote:

The worker in that shop should have closed it down if someone sneezed into it that directly.
You can't tar everyone with the same brush just because one person in the whole country made a mistake!

errr - did I actually say EVERY chocolate fountain was banned from my list? If you read my post properly you will see that I am actually referring to ONE particular outlet - not all of em. But if we are going down that route - do you really think that is the only store "in the whole country" where such a thing has happened - thats a bit naive. However, I do allow my kids to have these treats (I like em myself come to that - done properly they are brilliant) but I am just saying I am a bit choosy about the sort of outlet I choose to go to - you are right though, I thought they should have closed it after that incident but they didn't.