Dirty Places, Part 5: Restaurants

Hepatitis A vaccine is administered to children at age 2, but this highly-effective vaccine is optional (not currently required for most school entries). Optional or not, this is a great vaccine. It protects against the most common form of hepatitis. Most cases of hepatitis that are traced to restaurants are of this type. Hepatitis A is transmitted fecal-orally. In other words, someone’s unwashed hands contaminated with feces likely made your salad. In 2003, 510 cases of hepatitis A, including 3 fatalities, were traced to green onions at Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant in Pittsburgh, PA, my old stompin’ ground. Someone was definitely touching their chi-chi without washing their hands! We had a similar, albeit smaller, outbreak in the Sacramento area.

In 1990′s, the world was shocked when several people were infected with various strains of E. coli from two national burger fast food chains. E. coli is another fecal contaminant, and some strains can cause Traveler’s Diarrhea (aka Montezuma’s Revenge).

Don’t forget the ice in restaurants, too. A middle schooler did an award-winning science project earlier this year, proving that fast food ice is dirtier than toilet water 70% of the time.

I spent several days in Hong Kong several years ago and witnessed some new lows in restaurant hygiene. While sitting at my table, I witnessed the waitress wiping out the used bowls and plates with a dirty rag and resetting the table. Shocked, I mentioned this to our native hosts who said that this was common practice to save water. When our piping hot tea arrived, I promptly poured all of it into my bowl hoping to sterilize any contaminants. I can say that I did not get ill, but the potential clearly existed at every place we dined.

In 1986, the FDA banned the use of sulfites on salad. Sulfites were sprayed on lettuce to keep it from browning. Unfortunately, a large portion of the population is allergic to sulfa and many people (myself included) developed an immediate gastrointestinal response to this preservative – namely, diarrhea. While not technically a contaminant, any substance that sends restaurant customers running to the bathroom is bound to be contributory to other types of fecal contamination.

I have family members in the restaurant business, so I try to be real nice if I have to send a particular food item back to the kitchen. I really don’t want to particularly rile some hairy-armed, tattooed, ex-con who will send back my item with something “extra”. My mother was a waitress and bragged about these deliberate acts of kitchen terrorism. Now I know that is an unfair generalization about cooks, but those guys are working back there in some establishments. Many people remember the Seinfeld episode involving Poppy and his unwashed hands. Several news programs have shocked us with hidden camera video of cooks dropping your steak on the floor or picking their noses. I assume you are nauseated by now, so I will hold further examples.

We do have Health Departments and other government agencies that inspect restaurants for cleanliness, but how many of us would check for violations prior to sitting down to eat? New York City, for example, launched a Restaurant Cleanliness campaign in 2004, with other major cities following. I would love to see those health certificates hanging prominently at places that I frequent.

The problem with cleanliness in restaurants is the human factor. Humans on this planet have varying degrees of personal hygiene and integrity, and unfortunately, restaurants have no way of determining this when someone is hired. The only way to assure compliance to commonsense health and food-handling practices is with careful monitoring. Sure, I see those signs in restaurant bathrooms requiring that all employees wash their hands before exiting, but signs do not imply compliance. This is really as small planet, and we need to look out for each other. Until we have some assurance that our fellow humans are doing their share, you need to seriously look out for yourself and family.

Correction, July 21, 2006: The paragraph concerning E. coli deaths in fast-food chains misstated the name of that restaurant. That information has been corrected.

Technorati Tags: restaurant cleanliness, hand-washing, restaurants, Health Department violations

If you’re just now joining us, you’ll want to read Public Toilets (part 1), Airplanes (part 2), Your Doctor’s Office (part 3), and Hotels and Motels (part 4).