Using hands on deli counter

I had an aunt called Ada, long gone ?

Yuk to the man tasting the soup. How revolting! On a recent holiday, in this country, at the buffet breakfast, DH said he had seen one chap just helping himself to bacon, sausages etc. with his fingers instead of using the tongs. And people picking up bread for the toaster but not with the tongs either. I dashed to the toaster first thing to beat the queues.
But sometimes it is a case of ‘what the eye doesn’t see....’
And what about those chocolate fountains that were all the rage a few years ago? Different items maybe being double dipped! Yuk again!

I had this in Morrisons on the fish counter and didn’t like it one bit either also the fact she was in the back then came out and served I overcooked the fish that day.

She should have used kitchen implements for contacting the food.

It's all very well to say we are too fussy about hygiene but a supermarket has such immense power to spread infections it has to be very hygienic in proportion to that power.

It's a different thing when you touch your own food with your hands as that at worst will infect only yourself and might even help to exercise your immune system.

Infectivity varies according to 1. How much it can spread 2. how virulent the germs are.

@Flygirl. I entirely agree about the problems of unwrapped bread rolls, pastries etc being for sale in uncovered baskets in Morrison’s, ASDA, Lidl etc. I have seen shoppers handle several items before choosing one, kids poking food with grubby fingers whilst standing with their parent and endless people coughing and sneezing close to the food baskets. Surely something should be done to prevent such items being on sale and unwrapped with the spread of the Coronavirus?

Depends if they have somewhere to wash their hands! I'd prefer they used tongs, but when I asked a friend why they no longer wore gloves, she said that because they had complaints from someone that was allergic to latex - even though they wore either vinyl or plastic gloves.
I can remember as a child going into the butchers who cut and served meat without gloves on, including serving both cooked and raw meat. Our butchers was quite unusual as they had a separate cash desk where a lady sat in a cubby hole to handle the money! How did we survive?

Never mind store assistants, what about the public. Was visiting a very hugh end tourist attraction last summer. There were 3 of those urns for different soups. I had passed them in the queue but on looming back I noticed a man lifting a ladle and tasting the soup, placed it back in the urn and did the same with the next one. I couldn't get to an assistant quick enough to tell about what I had witnessed. All the urns were removed sign for No Soup available. Who does that and why did the people roundabout him not do anything about it, they must have seen what he was doing.

In the Netherlands all shops that sell loose bakery items each have perspex boxes with a hole just large enough for a tongs to reach in. Why don't we have those? In some ways we are so behind the times.

Aepgirl is spot on.
That`s what they used in the past.
Personally I wouldn`t buy anything if served by hand only.

Greengranny78, Monday, I could be your twin. It never really worries me. How many of us have been to a cafe and had a hot cross bun or toasted tea cake with our cup of tea. I bet in the kitchen out of sight they don't put gloves on to pick up the toasted tea cake or hot cross bun.

Hate to see people serving food wearing gloves. The gloves never look clean, they are only an improvement of they are changed before each serving, which I very much doubt. I would far rather see clean hands.

It depends if hands are washed properly. Cooked meat should not be handled with bare hands by someone who also serves raw meat. All those who say we're too fussy probably haven't got an 89 year old mother who could be killed by an infection caused by poor hygiene. Years ago, we didn't have the intensive farming that leads to all the nasty bugs.

i really think some people are not brought up properly.
i am thankful for the good values and community awareness, public responsibility that my parents had, and we imbibed.

I was astounded today to see a till assistant in Sainsbury's lick her fingers to separate a plastic bag from a big pile for a customer. Then she took his cash and gave him his change and the bag with the nice fresh sample of her saliva... This would have been shocking at any time, but seems incredible right now.

I have had the same happen to me when buying cooked meats. The same assistant served me several times, using her hands to handle the meat she had sliced. This got so often and made me so mad I asked to see the store manager, I told her I thought it was unacceptable and unhygienic practice. She informed me all the staff were compliant in hand washing and didn't need to wear gloves when handling food. To handle cheese then cooked meat then paper bags then back to another meat, I think cross contamination is inevitable. I will ask staff to wear gloves or wash their hands prior to serving me, most servers are ok with my request. As a retired infection control nurse I know I can be a pain but I know good practice and hygiene to stay safe.

PS: Corona? That was a brand of soft drinks wasn't it?

i am surprised at the cavalier attitudes of some people, esp in the present circumstances.
i was told that not all pathogens are killed by cooking.
is it E-coli, which comes from animal faeces, may be found on meat, and unwashed fruit/veg.
i never used to eat the skins of jacket potatoes, in cafes, for this very reason.
my parents and siblings were always very strict about hygiene, personal and food, and we had very humble origins. my parents rural crofter background was the same.
my aunt used to make sandwiches using implements.
i had assumed everyone decent had the same standards.
life has taught me differently. so i am extra careful.
the problem is that it is a public health issue.
however gung-ho an individual, as above on here, may wish to be, it affects the community at large if they go outside their house. and other people suffer. as now with covid-19.

Everyone is saying use tongs. How often are they washed between meats I wonder? I completely agree about hygiene being important, but by the same token I think 40 years ago we all built up a resistance to germs because we weren't as clean conscience as we are today? Mind you, with Corona Virus now, perhaps I'll need to rethink?

Our local Co-op in Essex has breads and pastries out, displayed in baskets, all open, tiered, at head and waist height. It is on the end of an aisle where people queue for the till, breathing all over them, maybe spraying saliva when they talk, sneezing (even yards away) droplets would land on them. They can also be picked up and handled without anyone purchasing them. Yuck, I never buy them thinking what could be on them. Surely at least they should have perspex covers over them?

when I worked in Asda about 20 years ago we were told that tests had shown that people who wore gloves actually hadmore germs on their hands because the ones with bare hands washed all the time.

I can’t believe my local Sainsbury’s with croissants, rolls, pain o chocolat all in open baskets !! Anyone can be breathing on them ! Wouldn’t touch it if you paid me! Late 2018 i was in a costa and a woman serving picked up my pain- o -raisin and put it on my plate and I remember thinking she didn’t look too clean. I told my mum I’ll leave it and she said don’t be daft she’ll have clean hands. Bang an hour later I had stomach issues which turned out to be some awful intestinal bacteria which took 3 1/2 months to get rid of !! Never will anyone friend or foe touch my food again. Rather be considered a pain in the rear ( and I am) then risk tummy upset .

The cooked meats, pies, fish, uncooked meat is left in a chiller counter unwrapped free to the air and any germs within that air!
If someone coughs or sneezes within a three meter radius then droplets will land, similarly in summer flies and other bugs will land........
What I’d the assistant touched a strong flavoured meat then without washing their hands touched a delicate flavour meat......
If anyone is worried either ask staff to wash their hands before touching your product or buy pre packed! What you don’t see you won’t know about with pre pack.

The gloves are not sterile so will have all sorts of bacteria on them. After years of increasing sterility and germ obsession we are now having to learn about restoring our gut biome and the resulting improvements in health. Normal hand washing is fine.

Back in the 50's when we were young, we all shared the same large bottle of Corona/Tizer. We all sipped from it and passed it on. Nothing bad happened to us. There is too much sanitation these days and that is why people suffer from certain problems, There is no immunity gained from sharing things, these days. I have no qualms about the way my butcher uses his hands to prepare my joint. At home I wash my hands and then prepare my food. Not had a problem with anything nasty over the last 50 years. We are becoming a nation of wimps. Basic hygiene is necessary but if we go over the top we will lose our chance of getting natural immunity. Rant over.

A few years ago, when gloves were de rigueur, I stood in a queue at Morrison's and watched a young lady serve several people ahead of me at the fresh sausage and bacon counter without gloves. When it came to my turn, I gently pointed out that she should be wearing gloves. Without a word, she went to the box of disposable plastic gloves, put one on....and then proceeded to pick up my sausages with the OTHER hand! And then couldn't understand my mirth.