Hygiene in Sandwich Shops/Cafes

Pfsyx

I was at a local sandwich shop this afternoon (with a five star hygiene rating no less) and saw something that bugs me incredibly. All the staff were wearing gloves, yet they were handling customers money and preparing sandwiches without ever taking the gloves off. If you're going to do this, why bother with gloves in the first place? That is just as unhygienic as preparing the food with dirty hands!

Why do so many food businesses struggle to get basic hygiene right when it comes to handling money and preparing food? It is a problem I see constantly and the staff must be aware that it is not a hygienic practice. Is it really so hard to use disposable gloves or simply wash hands after handling cash?

Mat_Lock

Nothings ever killed me ! Too many nancy pansy people in this world !!

I use the london tube every day meaning dirty seats, dirty handles, dirty escalators, dirty coughers, dirty air. My hands touch all sorts but I haven't died yet.

Pfsyx

Mat_Lock wrote: »

Nothings ever killed me ! Too many nancy pansy people in this world !!

I use the london tube every day meaning dirty seats, dirty handles, dirty escalators, dirty coughers, dirty air. My hands touch all sorts but I haven't died yet.

While I agree with you in essence, your example is a very different one. It would not be possible to clean every part the Tube after every use, it is however, in the context of a sandwich shop, very simple to wash hands in between tasks.

I doubt an EHO would look too kindly on the practice. Especially as it appears very often that gloves are used in place of frequent hand-washing, a legal requirement of any food-based operation.

artbaron

Until Mat_Lock dies this is not a problem. I repeat, not a problem.

HiToAll

I say chop off their hands, this is the very least punishment for such blatant crimes.

paddyrg

Actually with Pfsyx here - why bother wearing gloves if you're going to negate the whole point of them? Either the food prep is done with gloves and some other person handle the non-clean items, or if it's one person then simply washing hands makes sense.

Wearing gloves throughout is at best pointless and shows a deep misunderstanding of the whole point of the gloves! They're not there to protect the wearer's hands from all that evil mayonaise

earthstorm

paddyrg wrote: »

They're not there to protect the wearer's hands from all that evil mayonaise

And theirs me thinking is was to have all your coins and purses/wallets to spell like pickled gerkins

Azari

paddyrg wrote: »

Actually with Pfsyx here - why bother wearing gloves if you're going to negate the whole point of them? Either the food prep is done with gloves and some other person handle the non-clean items, or if it's one person then simply washing hands makes sense.

Wearing gloves throughout is at best pointless and shows a deep misunderstanding of the whole point of the gloves! They're not there to protect the wearer's hands from all that evil mayonaise

Agreed.

I've thought this in butchers where exactly the same thing happens.

Years ago the people serving food didn't handle the money at all, there was always a separate cashier. For some reason they suddenly decided that money wasn't a health risk any more.

And, I suppose, as you don't hear of case after case of people getting ill after buying from butchers, I suppose they must have been right.

artbaron

Azari wrote: »

And, I suppose, as you don't hear of case after case of people getting ill after buying from butchers, I suppose they must have been right.

I'm not sure there are stats on recent shops visited in the case of most illnesses but if you're right, the reason is that most meat from a butchers gets cooked, and cooking kills bacteria. In a sandwich shop there's no heating to be done so whatever gets onto the food goes into your belly and, if you're unlucky, turns around and exits at high speed.

cod3

Mat_Lock wrote: »

Nothings ever killed me ! Too many nancy pansy people in this world !!

I use the london tube every day meaning dirty seats, dirty handles, dirty escalators, dirty coughers, dirty air. My hands touch all sorts but I haven't died yet.

Having ridden the germ infested tube, would you not wash your hands before eating?

davenport151

Pfsyx wrote: »

I was at a local sandwich shop this afternoon (with a five star hygiene rating no less) and saw something that bugs me incredibly. All the staff were wearing gloves, yet they were handling customers money and preparing sandwiches without ever taking the gloves off. If you're going to do this, why bother with gloves in the first place? That is just as unhygienic as preparing the food with dirty hands!

Why do so many food businesses struggle to get basic hygiene right when it comes to handling money and preparing food? It is a problem I see constantly and the staff must be aware that it is not a hygienic practice. Is it really so hard to use disposable gloves or simply wash hands after handling cash?

This has always been one of my bugbears too. Ever since I worked in a sandwich shop and we always had one person just for the till. Hands ( if not cleaned properly) and money are the worst things to harbour germs.

Mat_lock we are talking sickness and the like as well. That bug you had that was put down to something you ate, even that headache.