Unsafe Food Recycling

A reader has alerted me to unsafe food handling at a long-time restaurant in Woodstock. Let’s hear what you think.

You know those popular baskets of rolls, crackers and bread that are served with salad and a meal? Usually there are 2-3 rolls, in addition to the pre-packaged crackers.

What do you think happens to the rolls that are not eaten?

Let’s bet that every reader here believes the uneaten rolls are thrown away, when the bread basket is taken from the table by the server. Right?

Last week a reader emailed me that she had noticed a customer with a runny nose at another table who reached into the bread basket on his table, after he had wiped his nose with his hand. Think there were any germs on his hand?

When the waitress came to her table, she asked what happened to uneaten rolls. To her surprise the waitress told her that uneaten rolls are not discarded; instead, they are just added back to the rolls that will be served to other customers.

Shocked? You bet! I have wondered about this in restaurants, and I had always assumed that a restaurant would safeguard the health of customers by discarding unwrapped bread items when the basket was removed from the table.

What would you do, if you learned of such a practice in a restaurant? Would you continue to eat there? Would you recommend it to your friends?

Or would you recommend that your friends avoid that restaurant?

And, if you were an employee of that restaurant, would you discard them, anyway, even at the risk of your job?