Re-useable coffee cups and food hygiene, am I the only one to be worried?

I can see where you're coming from but surely there would be as many germs on the other non disposable cups? The customer in question would only get their own cup back.
If you wanted the barista to wash the cup and their hands every time the queue would be horrendous.
I would take antibacterial wipes to use on my cup if I were in your shoes.

Germs are everywhere. Door handles are probably one of the worst places, so I wouldn't worry too much. Easy for me to say, I suppose, but I think people are getting a bit obsessive.

Here here misadventure

I think they recycle these not just re-use them. They go to recycling centres according to the 5 Live programme I listened to this morning. Which means they will be sterile.

Our charity had to purchase china cups and use a dishwasher because we provided tea and coffee, we were not allowed to wash any cups up by hand because of hygiene regulations on the premises.

If the customer in front of you had sores around their mouth, handed over a grubby looking cup that was filled and handed back to them, held by the rim (as they are used to do with a disposable cup) and then the server proceeded to handle your cup in the same way, wouldn't any of you feel a qualm? This seems like poor practice to me. Oh well, I see I am the only one to be worried.

I've thought the same thing OP and find it hard to drink/eat in/out, as I've been handed a glass or cup with lipstick on more than once over the years. This has made me ponder how clean anything might be as the previous user may not have been wearing lipstick to leave evidence of how clean or not something might be.

But what you’ve got to get in perspective is we ve all being eating and drinking out of pottery all our lives without problems but a few American firms start up their coffee shops here and we have to throw away the cup I don’t drink at Starbucks costa or any of those places as the price of a coffee is ridiculous so all my coffees come in pot cups or mugs and I am still alive and kicking To be honest if I had a compromised immune system to the extent of worrying about germs on cups I would not have a coffee while I was out but wait till I got home

Think you have been a bit harsh with the OP. It's always nice to go for a coffee (or tea) whilst out and about.

I'm sorry about your damaged immune system NannaMacGeek but, I do think you are bordering on paranoia, but I can understand it due to your condition. I think you are totally overthinking Moocow. It never occurs to me to analyse every glass, cup ,plate, piece of cutlery (ala Hyacinth Bucket... the episode where she ostentatiously wipes the knife and fork on her serviette.)
Starbucks, Costa Coffee et al (along with Mickey D and all the other takeaways) are totally unconcerned about the global effect their throw -away culture is having.
You pays your money , you takes your choice...... ie take your own cup with you and risk the minute chance of picking up a germ , or accept the environmental threat to the planet, and your GCs, GGCs ...and onwards.

If we thought about hygene all the time we would never eat out anywhere at all.Think how many times you have eaten and drunk from glasses, cups, mugs outside your own house over the years.
You are just as likely to pick up germs from any old door handle, more, possibly.

Well I wasn’t in any way meaning to be harsh Smithy I have every sympathy for any one with any kind of allergy/ intolerance or compromised system ( I have a close family member with allergies ) but you have to cut your clothe accordingly and if you know you can be ill from germs then you must find a way of managing that, so if it’s taking your own cup/mug and pouring the coffee into it or wether it’s inviting others to your house for coffee or as someone said taking a wipe with you ( although I d be more concerned with the chemicals in wipes personally) that’s unfortunately what you have to do and that’s a totally practical post not at all harsh

I agree Smithy ...it is nice to go out for a coffee, a drink and/or a meal whilst 'out and about'. And in the average UK town centre you will find an independent establishment which will involve a cup, plate or glass having gone through a dishwasher. The moral of the story is..... support your local coffee shop, tea-room, wine bar or pub.I look forward to the day these global environmental bandits are run out of town!
The answer lies with us, the consumer.

Just pop a pack of anti bac wipes in your bag as Pittcity suggested. You need to feel comfortable when out and about. I am forever getting mouth ulcers off glasses when dining out. Low immunity is a different thing altogether.

My grandson has Cystic Fibrosis which compromises his immune system. He’s only 7 so not yet drinking coffee but I feel that staff should be trained to keep all drinking vessels and plates really clean. They should also have to wash their hands frequently. Not just for people with immune system problems but for everybody. Maybe we’d all catch a lot fewer colds and it would help to stop the spread of other viruses.

I'm not bothered about coffee mugs but my bugbear is wooden platters when eating out. How can they be properly cleaned between each use and some of them look very well used anyway

In the local Starbucks I have used if you are drinking the coffee etc on the premises they give it to you in a clean china cup/mug depending on the size of drink. I have yet to have a dirty vessel from there or from Costa or Nero. I have only had disposable mugs from Motorway Service stations etc.
I would rather pay an extra pence on my coffee to allow them to sterilise the drinking vessels between customers in a dishwasher.

Having worked as a barista I always pull them up if I see them picking a cup up by the rim instead of the handle. It soon becomes automatic to use the handle and obviously lipstick marks are completely unacceptable.

You have a point yogagran. Have a look at this this: "A restaurant has been fined £50,000 by magistrates for serving food on wooden boards"

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-42582900

Never did like having my food served up on a broken bit of wood.

willsmadnan by ponder i was only meaning that sometimes tge thought crosses my mind. Also willsmadnan so if a friend gave you a glass of orange juice or waterever with red lipstick clearly visible which you only spotted just as raised the glass to your own mouth would you feel happy to drink from the glass knowing that your friend doesn't ever wear red lipstick? Overthinking

I often have coffee out and am not worried by china cups, they have to go through a dishwasher. However, I think that allowing possibly unwashed cups to be handled as part of normal food service goes against food handling regulations. I trained in food chemistry and worked in environmental health (in a role now known as a licensed food safety officer), carrying out inspections in restaurants and care homes.
Also, like some of you, the thought of wooden platters being used for food goes against the grain (literally). I don't really see the difference in risk between staff serving food either in reused cups or on wooden platters, neither of which may pass through a dishwasher. So perhaps I'm not on my own after all.

I am concerned about the risks to paying customers who have a right to expect suitable hygiene standards. Just because the risks to me are higher than average, it doesn't mean that I am paranoid. Well-trained staff are the key to keeping paying customers safe, I'd like a barista like Deedaa to serve me though.

Has the world gone crazy? £3 for a cup of coffee in most coffee shops, they should be able to provide an easily disposable coffee cup for take away drinks in that cost. Come on these places are making mega bucks, they have a responsibility to the environment as much as we do. I have a poor immune system, I'm really careful where I get my food. If it's suspect move on.

By the very definition that this group is called gransnet I'm guessing that we are all at least of a certain age.
Our childhood and younger days were spent playing outside, getting dirty, no dishwashers in our home and anti bacterial wipes were unheard of.
I do think we have become obsessed with germs and being sterile.
Of course I stay clean, wash up, wash my hands and expect a clean cup and eating utensils but not to the point of worrying unduly about it.
You and I may wash our hands after going to a public toilet...but can we be certain the person who touched the exit door before us did the same? No.
But we cannot avoid using public toilets. So why avoid using cups in cafes that just may have a slim chance of having a germ or two.
*That said I do appreciate the need for extra caution for someone who has a diagnosed poor immune system.

I don't understand the need for people to buy coffee and then walk about the streets drinking it; bad manners.

I think the OP has a point, inasmuch as she has a compromised immune system. On the other hand, I do think that there is a decidedly over the top attitude to hygiene in some respects.
As for the wooden platter thing, I can understand that it is not to the taste of all, but I can say that my grandfather made wooden dinner plates for my mother and they are a much coveted family heirloom (my kids will fight over them, no doubt) In what refers to the hygiene of using them, there is actually evidence to say that they are not unhygienic
www.restaurant-hospitality.com/operations/are-wooden-boards-good-option-table-service
Also, the restaurant that was fined, it was because the platters in question needed replacing, as they were in bad condition (if you read the entire article, you will see the reasoning)