Disgusting hygiene standards at Sainsburys

mulronie

Chris_M wrote: »

Some of the staff at my local Tesco having disgusting hygiene habits.

After finishing night-shift at 6am, I usually visit my local Tesco and this is the time that the staff pick the online orders. They wheel a cart around and pick the order. In the fruit/veg aisle, they will lick their fingers to prise open a new plastic bag, pick loose fruit/veg and put it in the bag.....lick their fingers again to prise open the next plastic bag and so on and so on.... :eek:

So beware if you order loose fruit/veg from Tesco or probably any supermarket.

Think about the logistics and supply-chain of getting a carrot from a farmer's field to your kitchen - the number of potential people/machines touching it before it even hits the supermarket floor, and the number of places it will sit, would surprise you.

Ground > picker's cart > farmer's storage > wholesale warehouse > supermarket depo > individual store.... none of which are the cleanest places in the world, with a big stinky diesel vehicle hauling them from place to place along motorways - and don't get me started on air freight!

The checkout girl/in-store pickers hygiene is the least of your worries - hence why I thought everyone at least rinsed fruit & veg before eating!!

Edwardia

Or how about a :T There's no head-banging emoticon here maybe I should use :money:

There's a USDA video on washing fruit and veg on YouTube actually.

Edwardia

Deli products aren't necessarily better quality anyway.. all the hams have additives..

marmitepotato

Tippytoes wrote: »

The staff behind the deli counter at my local Sainsburys store have the most deplorable hygiene standards.

They do not wear disposable gloves when handling foods. I recently asked for a couple of slices of ham off the bone. The member of staff picked up the shank with her bare hands, took it over to the slicer, weighed the ham, wiped her hands on her pinny, then put the ham shank back on display. Dirt was clearly visible beneath her nails. I did not buy the ham.

I've watched staff handling all sorts with bare hands. I don't think this is acceptable.

I've complained to the store manager who explained that it is not company policy for staff to wear disposable gloves.

I've spoken to lots of people who no longer buy from the deli. I'm disgusted that Sainsburys seem unbothered. Anyone had similar experiences?

Why on earth didn't you ask for the deli manager or go to customer services if you were unhappy? Simply walking away and complaining on here will not highlight that someone at the deli counter needs more hygiene training.

DCFC79

Not even noticed if the staff wear gloves and ive bought stuff to eat and been perfectly fine.

bigheadxx

Lots of people think that gloves are "magic" protection and invariably keep the same pair on for several different jobs, rendering them nigh on useless. Once you touch a contaminated surface the gloves will harbour the same germ or virus that was on the surface.

Norovirus can be easily transferred from a surface to food if wearing gloves. The best practice for limiting the spread of viruses and bacteria is to ensure regular hand washing.

More on Norovirus

Middy

bigheadxx wrote: »

Lots of people think that gloves are "magic" protection and invariably keep the same pair on for several different jobs, rendering them nigh on useless. Once you touch a contaminated surface the gloves will harbour the same germ or virus that was on the surface.

Norovirus can be easily transferred from a surface to food if wearing gloves. The best practice for limiting the spread of viruses and bacteria is to ensure regular hand washing.

More on Norovirus

So wearing gloves for performing several tasks is worse than doing tasks bare handed and washing inbetween serving customers.

Haffiana

Middy wrote: »

So wearing gloves for performing several tasks is worse than doing tasks bare handed and washing inbetween serving customers.

Yes it is. Which is why hygiene guidelines often discourage the use of gloves in these situations - they lead to an increased risk of contamination.

The problem is that we are so brainwashed into a state of virtual paranoia of germs by the advertising of antibacterial products, that we forget that the best and simplest method to keep germs at bay is washing hands with soap (normal, plain soap!) and water.

Middy

If the OP saw an experiment of two people on a deli - one wearing gloves, not changed after each customer/product handled and another one bare handed and washing their hands after each customer/product. Both of them had their gloves or hands coated in the UV lotion (in a different colour per person) that shows up under UV light all the things they have touched. They would notice that the person with the gloves will leave more of their prints behind and the barehanded person's will have faded or gone completely.

You may think gloves are hygienic, but they are not, unless they are changed at every customer or product. I work for Sainsburys and we get customers that buy least half a dozen items. If you changed the gloves per item touched, that will be thousands of pairs of disposable gloves used per day in each store(some larger stores have up to 4 colleagues on the deli) and even with the buying powers of Sainsburys, that will be very expensive and the cost will be passed onto the customer.

Obviously, if a customer sees someone on the deli or any other food counter with dirty fingernails, inform customer services and they will take action. Persistent offenders will be moved to other depts where they don't handle food directly such as Grocery and face disciplinary action if their fingernails etc are still not up to clean standards after a number of informal chats.

stephen77

after washing, then alcohol based spray.

I wonder what the environmental health will say to the OP complaint. Hopefully they will say the same thing.

I would expect the store manager to check the girl nails.

However I am curious to see how dirty the girls nails are, as I may be wrong on this, but have a feeling the OP may over react as well.