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Are You Afraid To Eat Out In Restaurants?
Be afraid. Be very afraid. According to The Center for Science in the Public Interest's new review of restaurant inspection reports, twenty-six percent of restaurants surveyed had contaminated food contact surfaces; 22 percent had improper food holding temperatures, and 16% had inadequate hand washing by employees. Thirteen percent of the restaurants had rodent or insect activity.
Admittedly I'm a bit on the "careful" side when eating out. If I'm not sure about a restaurant (food safety-wise), I have been known to order a vegetarian dish just in case their meat sits out too long. No one knows better than I though that this doesn't "eliminate" the possibility of food poisoning, it just lessens it. I will also lose my appetite if I go to the bathroom in a restaurant and it is fairly filthy or has an unpleasant smell. I don't think I'm alone on that one! Okay so we've established that I'm a bit germ phobic.
CSPI, The Center for Science in the Public Interest, just added fuel to my (fear-of-food-poisoning) fire. They conducted an analysis of 539 restaurant inspection reports from 20 cities. In their report, they noted some hair raising examples like inadequate hand washing in a Boston restaurant, mouse droppings in a Minneapolis ice machine, mayo-drenched chicken salad sitting out too long or a roach running across a restaurant cutting board in Pittsburgh.
Here are a few of the ways we are at risk when eating out:
For more on restaurant grading read the report: Dirty Dining: Have Reservations? You Will Now
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: food poisoning, dirty restaurants, Center for Science in the Public Interest, healthy diet
Admittedly I'm a bit on the "careful" side when eating out. If I'm not sure about a restaurant (food safety-wise), I have been known to order a vegetarian dish just in case their meat sits out too long. No one knows better than I though that this doesn't "eliminate" the possibility of food poisoning, it just lessens it. I will also lose my appetite if I go to the bathroom in a restaurant and it is fairly filthy or has an unpleasant smell. I don't think I'm alone on that one! Okay so we've established that I'm a bit germ phobic.
CSPI, The Center for Science in the Public Interest, just added fuel to my (fear-of-food-poisoning) fire. They conducted an analysis of 539 restaurant inspection reports from 20 cities. In their report, they noted some hair raising examples like inadequate hand washing in a Boston restaurant, mouse droppings in a Minneapolis ice machine, mayo-drenched chicken salad sitting out too long or a roach running across a restaurant cutting board in Pittsburgh.
Here are a few of the ways we are at risk when eating out:
- Improper hand washing can spread Hepatitis A, Shigella, or the norovirus to diners.
- Foods not held at the proper temperature can support the growth of dangerous bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens or Staphylococcus aureus.
- Undercooked meat or poultry or placing raw foods on unclean food surfaces can sicken diners with Salmonella or E. Coli.
For more on restaurant grading read the report: Dirty Dining: Have Reservations? You Will Now
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: food poisoning, dirty restaurants, Center for Science in the Public Interest, healthy diet
6 Comments:
I am definitely a little iffy on eating at most restaurants. After working in a kitchen myself, I know what can go on - especially when the kitchen is busy and customers are restless! On one particularly memorable night at the five-star restaurant, we served a party of six a curdled dessert - mistakenly, of course. We discovered later on that night, long after they had left. Lucky not to get sued on that one! Never mind if you get a disgruntled server who spits (or worse) in your food!
Of course, you can't really trust grocery stores either - I've purchased spoiled meat and curdled cream within the last couple of months. Instead of tossing refrigerated items that have been placed elsewhere in the store by customers who have changed their minds, they stick them back on the shelves. I think no matter where you are you have to cross your fingers and hope for the best...
I use to work in a grocery store. one thing we were told about stocking items is to keep those that are close to being expire (like its the 13, but has sell by date of 15) up front and the longer sell by dates in the back.
that's why when i go to the store now, i always look in the back and compare sell by dates. usually the back of a row does not have the items that were left elsewhere in the store. the front one is always like that (at least in my store).
Personally, I am more afraid of the harsh chemicals people use to clean and sanitize with than the germs they are trying to kill. The human body is designed to fight off germs a lot more than it is designed to deal with these chemicals. I think that if an establishment makes an effort to be reasonably clean (at least as clean as I keep my own kitchen--which isn't nasty but by no means up to hospital standards) then that is fine with me.
Don't forget that it's only been the last hundred years or so that the general public even began to think about germs. People got along fine for thousands of years without worrying too much about it.
I live in memphis and we've been doing this for a while now. A long while... I remember always looking in the front window/above the front counter or somewhere close to the entrance for their grade.
I do agree with a previous poster though, I'd rather get germs than poisoned by lysol.
The grade thing is a great thing, even fast-food resturaunts here have to do it. Any place that serves food must comply.
Grocery stores sometimes get away with not having their health code rating up front... But not for long.
If it's not in the front, ask to see it! They have it somewhere in the resturaunt... and they MUST show you if you ask!
I worry about all the unknown "filth" in restaurants too, especially fast food restaurants. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but when I go to a fast food joint, and there's ten greasy-haired teenagers back there handling my food, it makes me nervous. They're not wearing gloves, and who KNOWS when they last washed their hands?? Oops... dropped your meat patty on the floor, oh well, pick it up and throw it on the bun, you'll never know the difference. And don't think for a moment that such things don't happen. They don't care... they're only there for a paycheck, not to make sure that you're "100% delighted with your dining experience". And don't dare complain about anything, otherwise you're just begging for something unpleasant to be done to your food. They don't care how long the meat's been sitting out or where the rats and roaches crawl.
I'm not saying every teenager is like this - I've encountered some amazingly polite, hardworking, treat the customer well, do-things-right-the-first-time types that always impress me in comparison to their peers. But again, the majority are just there for a paycheck and nothing else. There is no pride in doing an honest day's work or a job well done.
Something nice where I live - my city's health department posts ALL restaurant inspection results online so that you can see how your fave restaurants are doing in the food safety department. As bad as fast food joints are, you'd be surprised at the results of some of the "nicer" restaurants. Would you like some four-star rat turds with your four-star dinner?
One butcher and one Chinese restaurant I attended some staff serving in the former wore rubber gloves on both hands and handled meat and money the same. The later some staff wore one glove or non and handled food and moiney at the till. I need to overcome my reluctance to report them tis is dangerous.
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