This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had just
moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee shop near our
apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Fran

In article ,
(Franfogel) wrote:

This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had just
moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee shop near our
apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We watched in
horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Did you ever say something to the manager? I'm sure that the customers
who weren't witness to the contamination would have appreciated it had
they been told.

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Franfogel wrote:
This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had just
moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee shop near our
apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Why didn't you say something to the person who was cleaning that display
case? Mistakes do happen. There's a good chance the guy who was doing the
cleaning realized his mistake after you left the restaurant, but it would
have been perfectly reasonable to say something like "you are spraying
cleaning fluid on those pastries." If you think mistakes don't happen at
other restaurants, you are living in a fantasy land.

"Franfogel" wrote..
One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors
behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We
watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Mine was in the deli of a major grocery store. Noticed a dark pan in
the warmer, got closer and saw it was creamed corn covered with flies.
Same chain, different city, employee dropped a pan of fried chicken.
Picked it up and put it in the display.

On 2004-06-02 17:35:54 +0100, Scott said:

In article ,
(Franfogel) wrote:

This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had just
moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee shop near our
apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Did you ever say something to the manager? I'm sure that the customers
who weren't witness to the contamination would have appreciated it had
they been told.

They probably noticed quite quickly without being told!

--
Tony

(Franfogel) Wrote:
This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had
just moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee
shop near our apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to
clean the display cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the
sliding doors behind which the donuts and other baked goods sat on
shelves was open. We watched in horror as he sprayed the food with
Windex--and never ate there again.
Fran ---------------------------------------------------------------
Response: Sitting at the front counter @ a popular family coney island
restaurant -Michigan- listening to a waitress tellling a fellow worker
she tried to take day off to see a doctor to learn if she had pink eye
but one of the owners sons told her they were too short handed that day.
Waitress then touched her eye glasses then filled up water glasses
touching the brims with her hands.
This restaurant is still open and the board of health serving our area
is still nothing but a joke.

In defense of Fran's story regarding her not saying anything to the person
about the Windex, it happens, sometimes you're just so shocked about an
incident you don't think of these things at the time. Anyway, wouldn't the
guy spraying Windex have noticed there was no glass in front of the pastries
anyway? I mean, you're supposed to wipe the Windex off the glass once you're
finished spraying.

--
Compmouse
Come visit KittyRealm, an active and friendly Sanrio Community
(http://pub37.ezboard.com/bkittyrealm)

"Franfogel" wrote in message
...
This happened in 1978 and I've never forgotten it. My husband and I had
just
moved to Manhattan and were having breakfast in a little coffee shop near
our
apartment. One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the
display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors behind
which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We watched in
horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Fran

"CaptCook" wrote in message
...
"Franfogel" wrote..
One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors
behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We
watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Mine was in the deli of a major grocery store. Noticed a dark pan in
the warmer, got closer and saw it was creamed corn covered with flies.
Same chain, different city, employee dropped a pan of fried chicken.
Picked it up and put it in the display.


I had a job that took me into restaurant kitchens for over 15 years. I saw
it all, from the best to the worst. The worst sight was a horribly filthy
and cluttered kitchen where every inch of counter and surface space was
piled up with garbage and clutter. Cockroaches and mice were running all
around. For lack of any workspace, one food worker was cutting up the shrimp
down on the floor. And who would have thought? The dining room of that place
was beautiful.

Locally, restaurants are now subject to more rigid environmental health and
inspection programs by our County Health Department. They have probably
reduced the incidence of continual, chronic violations but I believe there
are plenty of grevious individual violations that the inspectors never see.

In article , Compmouse wrote:

In defense of Fran's story regarding her not saying anything to the person
about the Windex, it happens, sometimes you're just so shocked about an
incident you don't think of these things at the time. Anyway, wouldn't the
guy spraying Windex have noticed there was no glass in front of the pastries
anyway? I mean, you're supposed to wipe the Windex off the glass once you're
finished spraying.

Actually, saying something to the manager would give you a hint whether
it was "an accident" or not. At a pretty decent Chinese restaurant in Uptown
Minneapolis, I was in the rest room when a kitchen worker came out of the
stall and went straight out the door into the kitchen. I told the manager
I thought that was pretty tacky and should be dealt with. His reponse was
"oh, that was just the guy that mops the floor." Uh huh.

I know stuff happens in *all* restaurants, but when they have that kind of
attitude, you can bet it happens *a* *lot*.

Mike Beede

My brother is a health inspector, so I do get to hear some interesting
stories. Off the top of my head, there are two that stand out:
he was inspecting a Chinese restaurant. The cook was standing at the
stove in front of one of those big woks, with a ladle in each hand. The
ladles were used to stir the food, and to periodically dip into some
sauce and pour it onto the food. My brother happened to notice a
cockroach crawling up the wall behind the stove. Apparently, the cook
saw it too: he reached out and *WHACK*, hit the cockroach with the
ladle, then resumed stirring.

Some time ago, my brother was inspecting a diner. He went down to a food
preparation area in the basement, and saw a guy making cole slaw.
However, all of the ingredients had been put into a large garbage pail
(itself a violation, since it's not a food-grade container), and the
guy, wearing a tank top, was stirring it using his hands: sticking his
arms in up to the pits and mixing it all around. He'd periodically wipe
off his arms with his hands, dumping the little bits back into the pail.

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"Scott" wrote in message
...
My brother is a health inspector, so I do get to hear some interesting
stories. Off the top of my head, there are two that stand out:
he was inspecting a Chinese restaurant. The cook was standing at the
stove in front of one of those big woks, with a ladle in each hand. The
ladles were used to stir the food, and to periodically dip into some
sauce and pour it onto the food. My brother happened to notice a
cockroach crawling up the wall behind the stove. Apparently, the cook
saw it too: he reached out and *WHACK*, hit the cockroach with the
ladle, then resumed stirring.

Some time ago, my brother was inspecting a diner. He went down to a food
preparation area in the basement, and saw a guy making cole slaw.
However, all of the ingredients had been put into a large garbage pail
(itself a violation, since it's not a food-grade container), and the
guy, wearing a tank top, was stirring it using his hands: sticking his
arms in up to the pits and mixing it all around. He'd periodically wipe
off his arms with his hands, dumping the little bits back into the pail.


If I were a health inspector, I'd likely never eat out again. LOL!! Yuck!
I prefer to remain oblivious.

CaptCook wrote:

"Franfogel" wrote..
One of the employees was using spray cleaner to clean the display
cases and obviously didn't notice that one of the sliding doors
behind which
the donuts and other baked goods sat on shelves was open. We
watched in horror
as he sprayed the food with Windex--and never ate there again.

Mine was in the deli of a major grocery store. Noticed a dark pan in
the warmer, got closer and saw it was creamed corn covered with flies.
Same chain, different city, employee dropped a pan of fried chicken.
Picked it up and put it in the display.

My story is at least third-hand (my stepson heard it from his
friends who worked there who saw the other guy do it) turning under
the mold on top of mac&cheese on the steam table at a chain restaurant.

maxine in ri

My cousin worked as a busboy in an upscale Chinese restaurant. He told me
that they regularly scraped off the top layer of partially eaten individual
bowls of rice and put a new cap of rice on top. I don't think any one
suspected.


"Scott" wrote in message
...
My brother is a health inspector, so I do get to hear some interesting
stories. Off the top of my head, there are two that stand out:
he was inspecting a Chinese restaurant. The cook was standing at the
stove in front of one of those big woks, with a ladle in each hand. The
ladles were used to stir the food, and to periodically dip into some
sauce and pour it onto the food. My brother happened to notice a
cockroach crawling up the wall behind the stove. Apparently, the cook
saw it too: he reached out and *WHACK*, hit the cockroach with the
ladle, then resumed stirring.

Some time ago, my brother was inspecting a diner. He went down to a food
preparation area in the basement, and saw a guy making cole slaw.
However, all of the ingredients had been put into a large garbage pail
(itself a violation, since it's not a food-grade container), and the
guy, wearing a tank top, was stirring it using his hands: sticking his
arms in up to the pits and mixing it all around. He'd periodically wipe
off his arms with his hands, dumping the little bits back into the pail.

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