Eating Out: "Everything You

Need To Know To Protect

Yourself From The Dangers"
http://www.examiner.com/article/eating-out-everything-you-need-to-know-to-
protect-yourself-from-the-dangers
When I was six years old my mother took me to a deli to pick up various items for
our usual Sunday morning breakfast. f course I had been to the grocery store at
times! but all I did then was sit in a cart and be pushed down the aisles because
that"s what all little kids do. I didn"t pay attention to what was on the shelves. So!
this was my #rst real experinece with food. So! at the deli I noticed this large piece
of $something$ in the display case. I asked my mother what it was and she replied
$%ongue!$ becuase that"s exactly what it was. & thick! large! sort of pinkish tongue
from a very large animal. Well! with that the nice old 'ewish man behind the counter
sliced o( a piece for me to try. %o make a long story short it has been )* years later
and have never had it again. I mean! now that I look back at my #rst $so called$
dining experience eating! that tongue was like being french kissed by a cow. It"s
$swapping spit$ with something that eats grass for +ods sake. ,o they at least soak
it in mouthwash before serving it- .ater in life I took the path of working in
restaurants to see what other $delectable$ items existed. %wenty /ive years in the
business have now passed and I no longer work in the food industry that I loved so
much due to being so disillusioned and disappointed about what the business has
become.
The truth of the matter is you have no idea what really goes on in the
kitchen of the restaurant you are dining at. 0ou have no way of knowing by
who and how you and your childrens meals are being prepared and that"s what my
column is about. I will tell you horror stories about food preparation from my
experiences at certain restaurants! give you tips on what to look for and how to
keep you and your family from getting food borne illness"s but most importantly I
will educate you on what you can do to make sure that if you do choose to dine out
after reading this! your experinece will be as safe and healthy as possible. %he
restaurant and it"s employees aren"t going to do that so it"s up to you. ne statistic
that blows my mind is that when you cook at home you have a )12 chance of
ac3uiring a food borne illness! but when you eat out you have an 412 chance of
getting sick. 5ow is that possible- %hese are trained professionals who take courses
for food handling and sanitation! watch videos! trained by managers whos main
concerns should be the safety of you and your family and you know nothing of
sanitation or food handling! never taken a course! never worked in a restaurnat and
yet you have a 6 to7 better chance of getting sick eating out. 5ow does this
happen- %his is how. /irst of all you are under the assumption that these so called
$professionals$ know what they are doing and take a great sense of pride in their
work. 0ou think it"s the owner of the company back there preparing your meal and
that only the #nest 3uality control is being executed. In reality more often then not
it"s some kid who 8ust #nished playing basketball! drove his car to work and started
preparing food without ever washing his hands. %hese 8obs aren"t careers for these
kids. %hey are 8ust earning mad money to buy some new 8eans or rims for their car.
&ll the training in the world doesn"t mean 8ack if the procedures aren"t executed
properly. %his is why I 3uit %he business has become all about cost and pro#t and
not about sanitation and safety..
+o to a fast food restaurant and 8ust stand back and watch what really goes on.
.ook for how many times the people preparing your food go wash their hands or
change gloves. 9heck out the cleaniness of the trash cans and condiment area. %he
drive thru cashier takes your dirty money and then throws napkins and ketchup
packets into your bag and on top of your food without ever washing their hands.
:ow! when you think about how many hands have touched that dollar bill over the
years including possibly some pig farmer! do you really want to eat those fries- ,o
you really think if an employee drops a pair of tongs used to pick up a hot piece of
chicken that he or she is going to to leave their station to wash their hands. of
course not. %he manager would be all over their $butt$ becuase it"s a busy lunch
rush and it"s all about pumping out the food as 3uickly as possible. 9heck the
bathrooms for cleanliness. ;un the faucets and see how hot the water gets. See if
the paper towel dispenser is #lled. If neither one of those are up to par then how are
the mployees washing their hands- ne tip I like t give people is to go during what
we call $o( hours.$ /rom 6 to ) most restaurants are at their slowest. .ook around
for general cleanliness of the facility. If it"s dirty during those hours then how do you
think it looks when it"s busy. %hat"s a sign of poor management and if the manager
doesn"t care do you think the employees do- When was the last time you saw an
employee take a nail brush! wait for the water to reach a certain temperature and
wash their hands for 61 seconds becuase that"s the :.0 way to do it properly and
by health code standards. I once worked at a fast food restaurant who shall remain
nameless for now. ,uring a very busy lunch rush someone had ordered an eight
piece nugget. %he line worker opens the drawer where the cooked nuggets were
held! but noticed there were only six in there. %he rest of the order was ready so the
pressure was on to #ll the order and get the customer $the hell out of there.$ %he
manager looks over and wants to know what the employee was waiting for! why he
didn"t #nish bagging everything. $I"m two nuggets short$ replied the employee. Well!
that was an unacceptable response for the manager considering his bonuses were
based on pro#t and performance so he himslef proceeds to dig through a garbage
can by the sandwich station looking for two nuggets that can be served even
though they were now dirty and cold. .ike an archeologist digging through the
desert sand looking for remains of extinct artifacts he continues to dig dep in the
trash until he found the treasure. %he two nuggets that were needed to #ll that
order and serve to some unaware customer of what they were about to put in their
mouth.
0ou go to your favorite corporate casual dining restaurant. 0ou grab a table and
proceed to look at the menu. ,oes someone come over with a spray bottle of bleach
and a clean rag to saniti<e your table or more often then not do they take a dry rag
and 8ust wipe the crumbs o(- Is it possible a group of dirty construction workers sat
there before you and had their dirty hands and elbows where you are about to put
your food- 5ow about that menu your reading- When was the last time you think
that was cleaned and saniti<ed. 5ow many and whos hands have been all over that-
%he ketchup bottle! salt shaker and whatever else is standard. ,o you think they are
cleaned and santi<ed- f course not! but yet you pick them up and proceed to eat
your meal. 0our beautiful grilled chicken salad is brought to you by your waitress
and you can"t wait to dig in. .et"s discuss that salad. I worked at a restaurant that
would mix up a huge batch of cole slaw every morning. It looked delicious with all
the ingredients mixed in a large steel bowl with its carrots and red cabbage adding
beautiful color to this wonderful side dish and then along comes the prep boy. :o
spoon! no mixing tool! 8ust him and his big hairy arms which he proceeded to use to
mix up the slaw. %aking those hairy arms and digging deep into the bowl mixing all
the ingredients together then scraping the excess slaw o( his arms and back into
the bowl. =ixing some more and scraping o( his arms some more the process
continued. $0ou want some$ he said to me. $oh yeah$ I laughed.$+ive me a pound of
that $ I said sarcastically. ,o you think perhaps the salad mix was prepared the
same way- ,o you know if someone had washed their hands properly before
making up that salad mix- 5ave you ever heard of the $three second rule-$ %he
$three second rule$ was an expression some employee made up one day after
dropping a piece of uncooked chicken on the >oor and placing it on the grill to be
cooked and served.$ In other words it was a 8oke and his way of making light of his
stupidity. %he only three second rule I"m familiar with is in basketball. 0our sons and
daughters work at restaurants. ,o they practice proper hand washing procedures
when they are home- ,o they wash their hands before opening up your fridge and
making them themselves a sandwich- If the answer is no! then why do you think
they would do so at work. Is the person who is preparing your food someone you
would let come to your house and cook for you and your children- What about those
water spots on your silverware and glasses- %hat can be a sign that their
dishwashing machine or chemicals aren"t working properly so basically you are
drinking or eating with utensils that are not saniti<ed properly. In other words! you
are eating o( o a fork or drinking from a glass that someone else 8ust had their lips
on- :ow! how appeti<ing is that- &sk the manager to see their latest health
Inspection sheet. Wouldn"t you want to know if this is the case- ,on"t you think you
have the right to know if their kitchen has a roach problem-
In my articles to come I will give you all the tips and tools you need to make sure
none of this happens to you. I"ll tell you what you can do to make your dining
experience safe and healthy for your family as well as what to look for in the 3uality
of the product you are recieving. I will also get into the economics of dining out as
opposed to eating at home and give you a crash course on proper food handling!
sanitation and information about bacteria and it"s growth as well as it"s potential
dangers. I"m not saying your average housewife doesn"t know what they are doing
but honestly ladies! how many of you know about the four hour cumulative
bacrteria growth cycle or the four only proper ways to thaw out food- ,on"t feel bad
if you don"t have this knowledge. In my #rst restaurant 8ob ever I was so lost I
reached into a hot fryer to grab some fries and spent the rest of the shift running
around screaming looking for my mommy to spray some bactine to stop the hurt
from hurting. We aren"t talking about buying a car. if a car doesn"t work you get it
#xed or bring it back. %his doesn"t apply to food. 0ou can"t see the problems and
once consumed sickness or even death can occur.