O/T: Do you eat out a lot?

[BunnyMommy]

It has come to my attention recently (I can'tbelieve that I've been so naive in the past that I would believeotherwise) that most restaurants, in spite of Department ofAgricultural oversight, have a number of unclean practices.I've seen news documentaries, people who have worked in the foodindustry have shared all types of horror stories with me, and the laststraw for me was tonight when on CSI (one of my favorite TV shows ...:?... * ahem * ) one of the crime lab technicians askedanother tech if she wanted to go out and she replied that she didn'teat out because with waiters and food preparerstalking overyour food and being so careless in preparation and presentation that bythe time your food reached your table it was "covered with a multitudeof DNA samples". I tell you, I almost threw up right then andthere! ... :shock:

To bring it all home, I didn't have time to cook tonight so I ordered apizza from Pizza Hut. As I was paying for the pizza Ihappened to look back in the kitchen. The food preparersWEREN'T wearing hair nets (both had long fake hair), WEREN'T wearingplastic gloves (both had loooooooooooooonnnnng fake nails), and theirclothes appeared soiled. (I won't give youanin-depthgraphic analysis of how long fake nailsdon't release bacteria with just a cursory wash of the hands after oneuses the restroom ...:X... ). One food preparer even had on rings! (You think that germscould get lodged under there?) To top it all off, they wereconversing with each other as they made the pizzas (can you say SPRAY?... ). Oh, mercy, I'm getting ill just by typing this... .When I think of how often I used to eat out ...

Anywho, anyone else have any concerns about eating out or am I just being a little too sensitive?

 

[MyBunnyLovesMe]

I eat out everyday...usually McDonald's or someother crap....I've gained 75lbs, and still climbing, I think becauseI've been babied all my life I don't know how to cook so I just dowhats easiest, plus I'm never home during particular meal times, I work3-11 so I always miss out on supper time.

I'm a baker at a coffee shop (Tim Hortons) and I wear my rings while Ido everything, mainly cuz they won't come off, but I know I always makesure I wash under them and everything. Though I did lose a diamond outof my ring the other week, I guess someone's donut was worth more thenthe 80 cents they paid for it...:X

I notice I feel sick a lot since I moved out on my own, not eatingright and stuff...I hope someday I can get my life going a littlebetter....


We brought home McD's one night and my friend Scott bit into his burgerand gobs of long blonde hairs were stuck in it (its not a policy atMcDonald's to wear hairnets).

Where I work everyone has to wear hairnets, and gloves if they'repreparing sandwiches or stuff, and if they're getting donuts for peoplethen they have to use a piece of wax paper to pick it up, so I knowwe're a clean operation.

There's nothing nastier then finding hair in your food....:?

 

[pamnock]

I like to eat out -- but having worked in arestaurant years ago (as well as my daughter recently working at arestaurant and listening to her horror stories), I can attest to thefact that you are *not* being over sensitive.

Want to hear a far bigger concern of mine? My hubby is anelectrician who has worked in hospitals. While working abovethe restroom ceiling (mens room), he was shocked to notethatsome doctors who used the facilities and did not washtheir hands after urinating and defecating!!! Ifprofessionals are not washing in hospitals, one can only imagine thatsome individuals in the food prep industry may also not be following astrict code of hygiene Note: Hubby is now at awaste treatment plant (it's probably cleaner there LOL)

The movie"Super Size It" is a must see -- you won't want to eat fast food ever again.



Pam

 

[pamnock]

MyBunnyLovesMe wrote:

I notice I feel sick a lot since I moved out on my own, not eatingright and stuff...I hope someday I can get my life going a littlebetter....

I feel so much better now that I have cut way back on the food in anattempt to lose the 30 pounds I gained when I quit smoking.

Pam

 

[Stephanie]

You are not alone, BunnyMommy. We don't eat outall that much, mostly because we can't really afford to eat out all thetime, plus I LOVE to cook and, if I may say so myself, I'm a darn goodcook. I'd rather have my own burgers over McD's anyday of the week.

Years ago in my early 20's I got food poisioning from a restaurant,from undercooked chicken. It really scarred me, for now I am ANAL aboutcleaning up after myself while cooking, I wash my hands probably toomuch while cooking and after everything I do. I even wash my handsfirst thing when I get home from grocery shopping. No food sits in myfridge longer than five days - and five days is a long time for me.Dave doesn't get it, and I've told him if he had a food poisioning andended up in the hospital, he'd be the same way.

As far as how food is prepared outside of the home, well, I no longereat at fast food joints, only because I gained weight since I quitsmoking, and I tend to not feel so hot afterwards. I like to go out toeat when it's busy, because the food is prepared fresh and from workingin a kitchen once, I know the way cooks get into their "mode" whileit's busy.

 

[Abbi]

I don't eat out often, by my own choice.. I feel the same as you do.

Two years ago, I took work experence in a hotel Kitchen, with cookingas I very much enjoy it. They were clean there, so it doesshow that some places do go by the rules.

But there are other places I've noticed, that aren't clean, atall.. And it makes me sick, when I go there and notice, thatI can't even eat the food they've prepared for me, so I've basicallywasted money on something I won't eat.. But it's not alwaysjust the resturants, and kitchens in these places that servefood. It can also be the factories that make the food, thatare not clean. There was one on Chicken Nuggets last yearthat put me off them for life.. Anyway...

 

[Carolyn]

Hi BunnyMommy,

I think about it everytime I order out. I've done my share ofwaitressing in my day and can attest to what you're picking up on. It'sdisgusting. I do like Chinese food, but the way they guard theirkitchen in this one place I go to can't help but make you wonder whatit really looks like in there. Blahhkkk. Gross. I get shivers justthinking about it.

Oprah had a show on yesterday about all the bugs and contaminants thatare in our house that we can't see. Even when we think we're gettingthem all, chances are, we're not. I had to turn it off or else I'dprobably wish to live like The Boy in the Bubble. (Remember that JohnTravolta movie?) One woman's toilet was cleaner than her kitchencounters. I always use paper towels instead of dish rags after readingonce that kitchen sponges carry so many thousands of germs on them.

One things for sure, never eat those mints in Chinese restaurants. Ashow had run tests on many of them in various different restaurantsonce and all tests came back had urine detected on them. They figuredpeople were going to the bathroom, not washing their hands and thenhelping themselves. After that, unless it's wrapped and offered to thepublic, I won't touch it.

*shivers*

Nasty!

-Carolyn

 

[edwinf8936]

I don't eat out much.5 yearsago I came down with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It took over ayear to get is under some control. The latest study showsthat they think a lot of it is started by bad food. My firstbout was afterI ate lunch at a local restaurant and after Iwent back to work I felt nauseated. That is the only time Ifelt like that and it was the first day of the problem. Threemedications cost a lot even with insurance.

I eat out now and then, but I am more careful of what I eat and where.

Ed

 

[Bo B Bunny]

We love to eat out, but it will pack on theweight if you aren't careful. My hubby was out of town alllast year and I think he gained over 40 pounds!

As far as cleanliness, yes, I am concerned and I check thingsout. I have worked as a waitress before and I know the thingsthat go on.

Also, about 9 years ago, Taco Bell here had an employee withHepititis. We rarely eat Taco Bell but had ordered a bunchfor us and some of our family who were over with us ..... I had justhad my daughter...

We ALL ended up having to go in for gamma globulen shots at the health department because we ate there. :X

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

BunnyMommy,

My dad works as a City employee (I wont say what city) as a plumbingand gas inspector. This means that whenever restraurants open or needsomething fixed or added to an old one, he has to go in to inspect theplumbing and gas. He has seen many filthy restraurants. He's told usstories such as:

• Pizza places allowing sausages to roll on the floor until theyneeded them. When he came in the back, all the employees rushed to pickup things because they thought he was the health inspector.
• A fancy restaurant putting prepared dishes about to be served topeople on top of piles of garbage or filled garbage cans without lidson simply because they were doing a renovation and had little counterspace.

And many more stories.

To top it off, I've gotten food poisoning from McDonald's 4 times (Iused to eat at those places a lot when I was at horse shows). Needlessto say, I do not eat out very much anymore. I do enjoy a good pizzaonce in a while (homemade just isn't the same as the yummy restaurantpizza) and I eat Subway once in a while.

Me and my dad cannot stand to eat out all the time. We once went on aweekend trip to BC to visit old family friends and I simply refused toeat out after the 6 hour trip down because I was already so sick ofeating out.

But you are not being over worried.

 

[Meganc731]

I completely understand what you're saying. Weused to live 3 miles from my mom so food was never a problem, sheautomatically made enough for all of us, but in May we moved from NM toVA so we had to fend for ourselves. At first we were eating out quite abit, I'm a bit OCD so I would start to gross myself out just before Iate and I'd just push the thought out of my head. Now we don't eat outvery much, we eat a lot of mix and heat up meals like Tuna Helper, YUM I could never be a forensic scientist, there's much more there thanI want to know about.



Megan

 

[2bunmom]

Bunny Mommy and All, No you are notbeing too sensitive here. I do not know how it is in otherstates but here in North Carolina the restaurants are inspected by thelocal health departments. They are given a sanitationgrade. That gradecertificate supposed to be postedwhere it can be very clearly seen by thepublic.Most people thatI know will noteat at restaurants that have below an A grade. That beingsaid, a lot of the folks I know work at the health departments and havetalked to the people in environmental health ( the restaurantinspectors) so they know and understand the gradingsystem. They also know which places to steer clearof. Also, local T.V. news stations here will announce on air,what restaurants have B or below grades and will tell what the healthviolations were. They will also tell if they tried to talk tothe manager and most of the time the manager will decline theinvitation to talk. Salmonella, Shigella, E.Coli andHepatitis are some of the pathogens that are the mainconcern. Yes, people die from these. Especiallychildren and people who have compromised immune systems. Inmy opinion, because of the way the world is today, and how our food ismanufactured, we each need to take responsibility to help our ownimmune system to fight all diseases. By thatImean, try to eat right, yes that means fresh fruits andvegetables, exercise, proper amounts of sleep, controlling your stresslevel, washing your hand a lot, keeping yourself informed and Ipersonally take a lot of food supplements. Sorry!!! Didn'tmean to get off on a tangent here.:? I just felt that thesethings were important to say.

Bunny Mommy call your local health department and report that pizza place.

Carolyn, You thinking is correct about the Chineserestaraurants, the environmental health people tell me that these arethe worst places. I know, I like the food theretoo!! Ok, I am off the bandwagon now!Thanks for listening. Beckie

 

[MyBunnyLovesMe]

The movie"Super Size It" is a must see -- you won't want to eat fast food ever again.



Pam

I watched that movie, it didn't stop me from eating McDonald's lol. Istill eat fast food all the time. Of course I don't eat it 3 times aday, sooo....yeah, cuz that's just icky.

 

[Gabby]

Carolyn wrote:

Hi BunnyMommy,

I think about it everytime I order out. I've done my share ofwaitressing in my day and can attest to what you're picking up on. It'sdisgusting. I do like Chinese food, but the way they guard theirkitchen in this one place I go to can't help but make you wonder whatit really looks like in there. Blahhkkk. Gross. I get shivers justthinking about it.

Oprah had a show on yesterday about all the bugs and contaminants thatare in our house that we can't see. Even when we think we're gettingthem all, chances are, we're not. I had to turn it off or else I'dprobably wish to live like The Boy in the Bubble. (Remember that JohnTravolta movie?) One woman's toilet was cleaner than her kitchencounters. I always use paper towels instead of dish rags after readingonce that kitchen sponges carry so many thousands of germs on them.

One things for sure, never eat those mints in Chinese restaurants. Ashow had run tests on many of them in various different restaurantsonce and all tests came back had urine detected on them. They figuredpeople were going to the bathroom, not washing their hands and thenhelping themselves. After that, unless it's wrapped and offered to thepublic, I won't touch it.

*shivers*

Nasty!

-Carolyn

this was so the wrong post to read beforesaturday......

 

[Delphinum]

My dad's a service engineer for a cateringcompany, they fit and repair kitchen equipment for companies all overScotland, and some of the horror stories he's told me have put me offeating out alot! He won't even go into a Brewer's Fayrerestaurant or a Little Chef! He even told me of this Chinesein Edinburgh where the raw chicken was stacked up on the ground and wasjust taken from the ground and thrown in the hot pans!Bleugh!! At least now I know which restaurants to avoidthough. One day, he went to a restaurant as the filter forthe cooker didn't seem to be working... he ran his hand along thegrease tray and it was full of grease! They hadn't changed itsince it had been installed years ago!! :?

I am rather disgusted when I go to Maccy D's and the girls are allwearing make up! I know they wear hats, but if a proper headchef was in there, he'd have them scrubbing it off with soap the minutethey walked in! So unhygenic! I don't want theircrusty greasy mascara flaking off into my fries!

LOL I've just ate a chinese that I haven't seen the kitchen of.... now I'm feeling a bit sick... :?

 

[*nepo*]

Someone sent my mom an emailtalking about fast foods and icky stuff. One fast food restaurant theywere talking about was KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and it said thatthe chicken from there was made in laboratories:shock:! And it alsosaid that one man was eating chicken and he could see the head of achick (I don't remember exactly) and its beak. KFC used to be one of myfavorite restaurants, now I don't eat there anymore.

Other fast food restaurants they were talkingabout was MacDonalds and Burger King, it said the meat from thehamburgers from both of those places was made out of cow poop (maybeit's not true but that's what the email said). I saw one time on thenews that a man had a rat in his hamburger ( I don't remember where itwas though). There is more, but I didn't want to make you guyssick.

I still go to MacDonalds and Burger King. I don'tknow why. I really like Belagio and Olive Garden ( They're bothItalian but not fast food). Maybe that's why they'reclean.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Those emails are fake, people send those around but they have no truth to them.

KFC chickens are infact farm raised but cruely treated (I've been through the PETA site).

McDonald's hamburgers are made by a company called All Beef (or is it100% Beef? I don't know, something like that!) but that is just thecompany's name, not the truth about the product. They are made with theextremely fatty parts of beef and there have been reported cases ofcardboard and sawdust being used as fillers.

Really, these things are no worse than hot dogs people.

 

[Delphinum]

Eww! I know! How can people buy hotdogsfrom people who have no sink to wash their hands with?!They're handling money, with other people's germs all over it, thenpassing those germs in the food!

There was a story in the papers in Britaina few years agoabout a man who bought McNuggets and had a chicken head in one ofthem... there was even a picture... but could have quite easily beenmade up. Of course this prompted my brother to order 'aportion of McNuggets... without the head'. He then startedworking there! LOL

Ang xx

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

The chicken head was a true a story! However, I do believe it was a lady in the USA that got it with her meal.

http://www.zooass.com/postcards/cards/chickenhead/news/kgw.shtml#

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

First thingsfirst.... I always feel like I'm following BunnyMommy aroundwitha look of adoration on my cyberface.

But now that I know that she is a fellow CSI-aholic, we will be foreverbonded! CSIRules! On to the yucky stuff. I worked in fast food severaltimes in my life and have plenty of horror stories myself. It seems asyou get older, the reality of the gross factor hits you. More recentlyone of my kids worked at a place where the 2 second rule was regularlyimplemented...my kids use that with their own food all the time, but arestaurant!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar, when a piece of foodis dropped on the floor, if it's there less than 2 seconds it's stillgood to eat....usually a standard rule for kids/teenagers in their ownhome. But this place had a cook that regularly dropped burgers off thegrill onto the nasty "greasey burger joint" floor and would pick themback up, wipe them off on his nasty apron and put them on the bun andgo on as if nothing hadhappened! We've also found a big, fat, green, cabbageworm in our fresh salad! At least that wasmorenatural mistake but I still was soooo grossed! Anyway,everyone has tons of stories but the situation isn't going to get anybetter until huge groups of voting people contact their politicalrepresentatives on a regular basis, borderline harassment level,probably for years, before things begin to change. The restaurantindustry is hugely profitable and growing by leaps and bounds. Peopleare so rushed in their lives and looking for a "fast fix" foreverything. The majority of the public puts more emphasis on theconvenience and enjoyment factors in their lives than they do theirsafety and health. That's a fact. The public will turn a blind eye tothese things as long as they are fat and happy! (The fat factor beingan entire different thread all together with fast food!)

Oh, and Pam, on your bathroom subject...I held Sebastian's little girlabovepublic toilets until she was too big for me to dothat any more. I wouldn't let her touch anything! :shock:Notthe walls, the handle to flush the toilet, NOTHING! She has an impairedimmune system, although she is in remission now, I still put toiletpaper all over the seat a lot of the time. When she was smaller Icarried wipes and wiped handles of grocery carts, etc.

Public places arenasty!

Raspberry