Just so you guys know: I work for a DOH As an aside and despite readers claims never to have gotten sick at this place, that is probably not so. Since food infections, unlike food poisonings can take several days to present, a connection probably hasn't been made to the "stomach virus/flu" they think appeared from the blue. We take no pleasure in these protracted efforts to require someone to meet at least D-minus standards of safety for the dining public. It takes time and manpower from our normal schedules and puts us behind on other necessary work. It is stressful for us to repeatedly go back at increased frequency MANDATED by the failure to correct violations and de-moralizing to see the lack of appreciation by the people we are hired to protect. WE WOULD NOT DO THIS FOR FUN. Restauranteurs have a responsibility to present not only a popular product, but also, a safe one. If it were the desire and practice of businesses to do so, our jobs would not be necessary and then those who decry the efforts to maintain safety, could rant about some other agency's effort to protect them from things they would not notice on their own. I have no real problem with people WANTING to eat rat poop. I just think it, like animal worship, should be practiced in the home.
Brulemonster, I agree with you that Domenic DeMarco's refusal to change some of his business practices and heed prior citations are the chief reasons for his tribulations with the DOH. However, do you not believe that certain existing policies that are in place need to be scrutinized a little more closely? One citation is for his refusal to wear plastic gloves when making pizza dough. This wear the old -timer has legitimate gripe. It is tough to make a good pie without feeling the dough. Also, if you do not change your gloves regularly you can still transfer bacteria to the customer while technically being in compliance with the DOH policy. Isn't the most important thing in keeping your hands clean by frequent washing?
Rules for gloves are primarily for handling food that will have no further cooking. Secondarily, the rule is against having unnecessary hand contact to food. Proper cooking will kill anything inoculated to the exterior of a product such as pizza dough. Ground beef, on the other hand, if mixed by bare hand may, by accident, not be cooked to a high enough temperature in the center. E. Coli: 157 is a nasty example of what can happen Even though putting on gloves with dirty hands somewhat defeats the purpose, as does not changing them often enough, at least they don't have fingernails to carry the organisms of public health significance under. To actually see a food service worker wash his/her hands thoroughly after a trip to the toilet room is so rare as to be remarkable. Most food borne disease is through the fecal to mouth route. Yum. One of the things many people overlook is that the very young, the very old and the currently ill have immune systems which are not as strong as your typical citizen. Those willing to take their own chances on a bout of minor food poisoning might think twice before feeding a morsel to Gramps or Tiny Tim.
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
4 Comments:
Looks like a good one.
Slice -joe at 9:07PM on 06/23/07
Just so you guys know: I work for a DOH As an aside and despite readers claims never to have gotten sick at this place, that is probably not so. Since food infections, unlike food poisonings can take several days to present, a connection probably hasn't been made to the "stomach virus/flu" they think appeared from the blue. We take no pleasure in these protracted efforts to require someone to meet at least D-minus standards of safety for the dining public. It takes time and manpower from our normal schedules and puts us behind on other necessary work. It is stressful for us to repeatedly go back at increased frequency MANDATED by the failure to correct violations and de-moralizing to see the lack of appreciation by the people we are hired to protect. WE WOULD NOT DO THIS FOR FUN. Restauranteurs have a responsibility to present not only a popular product, but also, a safe one. If it were the desire and practice of businesses to do so, our jobs would not be necessary and then those who decry the efforts to maintain safety, could rant about some other agency's effort to protect them from things they would not notice on their own. I have no real problem with people WANTING to eat rat poop. I just think it, like animal worship, should be practiced in the home.
Slice Brulemonster at 8:00PM on 06/25/07
Brulemonster, I agree with you that Domenic DeMarco's refusal to change some of his business practices and heed prior citations are the chief reasons for his tribulations with the DOH. However, do you not believe that certain existing policies that are in place need to be scrutinized a little more closely? One citation is for his refusal to wear plastic gloves when making pizza dough. This wear the old -timer has legitimate gripe. It is tough to make a good pie without feeling the dough. Also, if you do not change your gloves regularly you can still transfer bacteria to the customer while technically being in compliance with the DOH policy. Isn't the most important thing in keeping your hands clean by frequent washing?
Slice Anthony A at 6:56PM on 06/27/07
Rules for gloves are primarily for handling food that will have no further cooking. Secondarily, the rule is against having unnecessary hand contact to food. Proper cooking will kill anything inoculated to the exterior of a product such as pizza dough. Ground beef, on the other hand, if mixed by bare hand may, by accident, not be cooked to a high enough temperature in the center. E. Coli: 157 is a nasty example of what can happen Even though putting on gloves with dirty hands somewhat defeats the purpose, as does not changing them often enough, at least they don't have fingernails to carry the organisms of public health significance under. To actually see a food service worker wash his/her hands thoroughly after a trip to the toilet room is so rare as to be remarkable. Most food borne disease is through the fecal to mouth route. Yum. One of the things many people overlook is that the very young, the very old and the currently ill have immune systems which are not as strong as your typical citizen. Those willing to take their own chances on a bout of minor food poisoning might think twice before feeding a morsel to Gramps or Tiny Tim.
Slice Brulemonster at 6:19AM on 06/28/07