Restaurants and Institutions

Please excuse me for a longer than normal post, and for going on a "rant" (like that other Dennis on cable television.)

It's every operator's worst nightmare, a food-borne disease incident at your restaurant.

The damage can be overwhelming to your customers who are victims, their families, to your employees, to you and your family, and to your business.   I have been an expert witness in many of these cases, so I know first hand how horrendous they are.

You would think it would be Priority Number One at every establishment that serves food. Yet, I can walk into many restaurants and easily see examples of less than desirable food-handling practices.   

And if you think the worst offenders are independents, you would be wrong.

I frequently go to (or more accurately, used to go to) a local unit of an established limited-service chain.  One that has its employees wear disposable gloves.  Good intention, but poor execution. It almost seems like the employees think the gloves are to keep their hands clean, instead of keeping the food clean.  Some more notable examples:

• Just prior to making my order, the employee cleaned some debris off the floor with a broom. When I requested a change of gloves before she handled my food she (earnestly) asked "why."  When I explained what I had just observed she apologized and changed her gloves. 
• On another visit I watched an employee wearing their gloves handle the cash drawer, and then handle food.  I doubt either the money (or the drawer) were sanitized.

The problem is not localized to one or two units or to an individual brand.  I have seen many locations and other brands where cross-contamination potential is far too frequent.  (Kudos to one operation that does seem to get it right – Costco.)

I don't blame the crewpersons. I bet if I looked at the operations manual, they have outlined the correct procedures.  The problem is in the training, or maybe the re-training, or maybe the focus and attention of unit management. 

The stakes are far too high. It's time to get this right. Given the downside risk, wouldn't buying a few extra boxes of disposable gloves a week and investing in a few more hours of training be good insurance? It is from my viewpoint.