Tesco staff cleaning in small stores 22 July 2020 at 12:20PM in Shop but don't drop 13 replies 431 views

georgelmitchell

Is it OK for Tesco staff to clean stores, rest rooms and toilets!! Then handle food?
In small stores, it seems as though tesco thinks this is acceptable, I for one will not shop for food if this continues to happen. 
Do you think that this is acceptable? 

comeandgo

In my home I clean floors, sinks, toilets and handle food and cook.  Nobody has ever come to any harm in the 50 years I've done this.

bradders1983

Heaven forbid they wash their hands after they clean and before they handle food.

georgelmitchell

It would only take one small mistake when you are rushing, for this to go very badly for everyone. 
And what is acceptable at home is not in a retail environment. 

bradders1983

What is the issue if they are washing hands after cleaning? Do you have any evidence they arent?

jon81uk

georgelmitchell said:

Is it OK for Tesco staff to clean stores, rest rooms and toilets!! Then handle food?
In small stores, it seems as though tesco thinks this is acceptable, I for one will not shop for food if this continues to happen. 
Do you think that this is acceptable? 

This is normal in almost all other small stores anyway. Do you think your local corner shop has a cleaning contractor?
Most coffee shops (Nero, Costa etc) don't have cleaning contractors and the staff do all the cleaning. Pretty certain McDonalds staff do all the cleaning in the stores as well. 
Staff should be washing their hands regularly and you should be washing all fruit and veg before consumption (and your hands).

georgelmitchell

The chances for cross contamination increases. I never frequent places like McDonald's or other burger shops, as I prefer home cooking. 

jon81uk

georgelmitchell said:

The chances for cross contamination increases. I never frequent places like McDonald's or other burger shops, as I prefer home cooking. 

What sort of cross contamination are you expecting?

The two main things you have to worry about food hygiene wise is a member of staff going to the toilet and not washing their hands (therefore spreading E Coli or similar) and touching their nose, sneezing or similar then directly touching ready to eat food (spreading Staphylococcus or of course Covid-19).
If you are concerned about food hygiene then worry about people having dirty hands and then handling food (although Tesco have closed down Deli counters so there isn't much direct food handling going on!).

Barny1979

It's well known that staff in Supermarkets never go to the toilet at any point during their shift to avoid them forgetting to wash their hands.

maman

I'm sure Tesco have told all staff the regulations they should be working to. Obviously there will be more 'rules: in place for stores where they have more roles. That does potentially allow for more margin of error but even in a large store you'd still be at risk if someone had been on checkout all day but was asymptomatic and hadn't been careful.
 
It's for you to decide on the level of risk you're prepared to take. I'm happy with packaged products and washing fruit and vegetables. Some people quarantine their shopping. 

What isn't going to happen is Tesco employing cleaners in small shops. 

Barny1979

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53501318