A reminder to all as to what really goes on behind closed doors (restaurant kitchens)

Kathleen’s Place said:
To me it’s kind of like eating beef...I don’t want to even think about what goes on behind the scenes or I’d never eat it again. And then we’d have all this cattle running around taking over the world 😂
Same with restaurants. I just prefer not to think about it 😊
Click to expand...
You're much more forgiving than me, Kathleen. :)
 

MarciKS said:
Just forget it. It's not even worth the argument. I don't think you understand what really happens in these places and how difficult it is to get anything done about it.
Click to expand...
Who's arguing?

I think this has been a superb debate and discussion thus far, with all parties voicing their take on the matter.

As with any debate, participating parties are going to disagree.
 
It's frustrating when you have to risk your job over something that management doesn't give a crap about and you're not going to get any kind of support from fellow staff because they don't want to lose their jobs either. I can stand around all day and try to police it but, if the boss doesn't care and the staff doesn't care then there's little I can do unless I can prove it. And I'm sure the bosses are well prepared to cover anything up that needs to be covered up. With or without my cooperation. If the management would hire people who actually do what they should we'd be fine. But finding those kinds of people takes forever and it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. If I owned the place I'd be replacing people right and left until I got a crew I deemed safe. However, HR tends to interfere with these actions a lot more than people realize.

However, many times bosses hire what they call the lesser of the evils to fill a spot. They are so desperate for help they don't really take the time to look at the employee and their work record. They just hire them to fill a spot. It's up to the employees to care. And those of us that care get into hot water because we harass the ones that don't care and they go tattle and we get in trouble for trying to do the right thing. It's a terrible position to be put into every day with no way to fight it. At my age I can't just keep job hopping in an industry that will continue these shoddy practices no matter what. Because the bottom line is they don't care. As long as consumers are lining their pockets they simply want to make it look like they're doing what they're supposed to.

This covid stuff for example...they claim they're sanitizing regularly. Believe me when I tell you it's a load of bull. In a busy establishment finding time to sanitize every 30 min is nearly impossible when only one or two are doing it. It's just for looks. To convince the public they're a safe place to shop or eat. The real issues are what's going on in the back that the public can't see. My advice to anyone is simply this...unless you know what kind of establishment it is and what goes on in the back...eat at home.
 

I could spend a substantial amount of time in the bosses office informing him of all the violations and he would not only get angry with me he would tell me just like he did the other day that all this tit for tat isn't solving anything and meanwhile...nothing gets done. I love what I do. I enjoy being a part of taking care of sick people. And it hurts me to know that things are happening and nothing is getting done and if I make a federal case out of it with no proof I will get fired. And if I have proof I'll be violating some privacy issue I'm sure and still be out of a job. It is a no win situation. It shouldn't have to be this way but it is. Until enough people are willing to stand up as a group and get something done about it, it will continue regardless of regulations and/or lawsuits.
 
MarciKS said:
It's frustrating when you have to risk your job over something that management doesn't give a crap about and you're not going to get any kind of support from fellow staff because they don't want to lose their jobs either. I can stand around all day and try to police it but, if the boss doesn't care and the staff doesn't care then there's little I can do unless I can prove it. And I'm sure the bosses are well prepared to cover anything up that needs to be covered up. With or without my cooperation. If the management would hire people who actually do what they should we'd be fine. But finding those kinds of people takes forever and it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. If I owned the place I'd be replacing people right and left until I got a crew I deemed safe. However, HR tends to interfere with these actions a lot more than people realize.

However, many times bosses hire what they call the lesser of the evils to fill a spot. They are so desperate for help they don't really take the time to look at the employee and their work record. They just hire them to fill a spot. It's up to the employees to care. And those of us that care get into hot water because we harass the ones that don't care and they go tattle and we get in trouble for trying to do the right thing. It's a terrible position to be put into every day with no way to fight it. At my age I can't just keep job hopping in an industry that will continue these shoddy practices no matter what. Because the bottom line is they don't care. As long as consumers are lining their pockets they simply want to make it look like they're doing what they're supposed to.

This covid stuff for example...they claim they're sanitizing regularly. Believe me when I tell you it's a load of bull. In a busy establishment finding time to sanitize every 30 min is nearly impossible when only one or two are doing it. It's just for looks. To convince the public they're a safe place to shop or eat. The real issues are what's going on in the back that the public can't see. My advice to anyone is simply this...unless you know what kind of establishment it is and what goes on in the back...eat at home.
Click to expand...
That's where workers in the food industry have to get smart. You need to join forces, not just immediate staff members in your own workplace, but employees in every restaurant, every industry, right across the board.

Then you form a consortium or an association, where as one, you can move forward to make and bring about change to a broken system and industry.

Remember, everything related to change takes time and effort.

I definitely sense your frustration, Marci, and I feel for you.

I knew you would be an excellent member here to tap into, because of your vast knowledge and experience in the food industry. Your insight and posts have been enlightening to me, and have helped me better understand the daily goings-on behind the scenes and what you personally are up against each and every day.
 
A list of things I've witnessed in the past 4 yrs:

Little to no hand washing.
Little to no sanitizing.
Little to no glove use on foods that are going directly into someone's pie hole.
Clean wash rags dropped on the floor picked up and tossed back in with the rest of the clean rags.
Wash rags used to clean the patient plates during service so they look nice...dropped on the floor and continued to be used to wipe plates. That day I spoke up to the lead and all I got was a nasty look. He hasn't liked me since.
They scratch and wipe at various body parts with gloves on and continue to serve and prepare food with said gloves. They get extremely pissed when I tell them to change their gloves.
They eat with gloves on and use those same gloves to continue pulling clean dishes and preparing food or serving food.
They put clean dishes on dirty carts to be put away later.
They don't temp foods so sometimes things go out raw or under temp.
Now that we are finally masked all the time...masks are not worn properly and they are pawed at constantly and service continues even with these now soiled gloves.

That is just a small list of what I have to witness every day.
 
MarciKS said:
A list of things I've witnessed in the past 4 yrs:

Little to no hand washing.
Little to no sanitizing.
Little to no glove use on foods that are going directly into someone's pie hole.
Clean wash rags dropped on the floor picked up and tossed back in with the rest of the clean rags.
Wash rags used to clean the patient plates during service so they look nice...dropped on the floor and continued to be used to wipe plates. That day I spoke up to the lead and all I got was a nasty look. He hasn't liked me since.
They scratch and wipe at various body parts with gloves on and continue to serve and prepare food with said gloves. They get extremely pissed when I tell them to change their gloves.
They eat with gloves on and use those same gloves to continue pulling clean dishes and preparing food or serving food.
They put clean dishes on dirty carts to be put away later.
They don't temp foods so sometimes things go out raw or under temp.
Now that we are finally masked all the time...masks are not worn properly and they are pawed at constantly and service continues even with these now soiled gloves.

That is just a small list of what I have to witness every day.
Click to expand...
All the more reason for video surveillance to be implemented.

While dear husband and I don't go out to eat, it's hard not to see restaurant kitchen staff standing outside and behind the establishment smoking cigarettes, which never fails to make me think to myself... do you think those employees wash their hands before walking back into the kitchen to carry on with their duties.

My opinion, NOT.
 
probably not Marg. one day at a Wendy's a kid was cleaning the bathrooms. he came out with those regular latex gloves like a worker serving food would wear and never changed them or washed his hands. took my order and i watched him gather my food. when i asked him if he'd just been in the bathroom with those gloves on he honestly paused and thought about lying to me. he chose not to. i had him get the manager. not only did i get free fresh food the equipment got hauled to the back and cleaned. lol!
 
MarciKS said:
probably not Marg. one day at a Wendy's a kid was cleaning the bathrooms. he came out with those regular latex gloves like a worker serving food would wear and never changed them or washed his hands. took my order and i watched him gather my food. when i asked him if he'd just been in the bathroom with those gloves on he honestly paused and thought about lying to me. he chose not to. i had him get the manager. not only did i get free fresh food the equipment got hauled to the back and cleaned. lol!
Click to expand...
Good catch, and good on you for speaking up!

I simply cannot bring myself to feeling good about eating out anymore.

That old saying... "if you only knew" haunts me.
 
i don't eat out as much as i used to. mostly take out from pizza hut. even that has slowed down some.
 
Aunt Marg said:
All the more reason for video surveillance to be implemented.

While dear husband and I don't go out to eat, it's hard not to see restaurant kitchen staff standing outside and behind the establishment smoking cigarettes, which never fails to make me think to myself... do you think those employees wash their hands before walking back into the kitchen to carry on with their duties.

My opinion, NOT.
Click to expand...
There is likely video surveillance already in place - not for food safety, but to prevent employee theft. Video surveillance would not change anything. The owners are part of the problem, so complaining to them would do no good & would only put the employee's job in jeopardy. It's easy to blame employees when it's not your job, your income or your family's security that's at stake.
I've worked in places where I witnessed all kinds of fraud & dishonesty, some involved danger to others. When I notified the higher ups, I was told to "Be Cool." When I went higher, I was terminated - for fabricated cause.
 
Aunt Marg, even though your feelings are legitimate, if you HAD to work and might end up without a job, your feelings might change. As for cleanliness in a kitchen, there are many homes who have similar dreadful hygiene. It doesn’t mean every place is lax in their protocols. I prefer a restaurant where I can see the kitchen and cooks.

When was the last time you were in the workforce? There’s BS that happens in every line of work. Many much worse than a restaurant.
 
Jules said:
Aunt Marg, even though your feelings are legitimate, if you HAD to work and might end up without a job, your feelings might change. As for cleanliness in a kitchen, there are many homes who have similar dreadful hygiene. It doesn’t mean every place is lax in their protocols. I prefer a restaurant where I can see the kitchen and cooks.

When was the last time you were in the workforce? There’s BS that happens in every line of work. Many much worse than a restaurant.
Click to expand...
No, Jules, my feelings would not change, it's called pride and having scruples.

At the end of each day I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and ask myself, are you happy with your performance, and if I were employed behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen preparing food for needy people or restaurant goers, and I willingly knew and was aware of inconsistencies related to food-safe practices, questionable sanitary practices, i.e., such as cleaning cloths being dropped on the floor and then being reused to wipe off clean dinner plates before serving, along with any other despicable behaviour that was present, the last thing I would do would remain quiet.

It just goes to show how much ground society has lost when people today would rather look the other way and pretend all is rosy, rather than standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

It's called having respect for oneself, and I'd have no respect for myself observing unacceptable nonsense going on around me by fellow employees, job loss or not.

Last time I was in the workforce? Approx. 38 years ago, though I fail to see any correlation between what little time I spent in the workforce having to do with respect, morals and standards, and standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

Judging by societies approach to BS in the workplace, I think it's safe to say that people (in general) have resigned themselves to the fact that BS exists in every workplace, so suck it up and shut up... societies answer and solve to today's problems.

What a sad state of affairs this world is in.
 
Aunt Marg said:
No, Jules, my feelings would not change, it's called pride and having scruples.

At the end of each day I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and ask myself, are you happy with your performance, and if I were employed behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen preparing food for needy people or restaurant goers, and I willingly knew and was aware of inconsistencies related to food-safe practices, questionable sanitary practices, i.e., such as cleaning cloths being dropped on the floor and then being reused to wipe off clean dinner plates before serving, along with any other despicable behaviour that was present, the last thing I would do would remain quiet.

It just goes to show how much ground society has lost when people today would rather look the other way and pretend all is rosy, rather than standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

It's called having respect for oneself, and I'd have no respect for myself observing unacceptable nonsense going on around me by fellow employees, job loss or not.

Last time I was in the workforce? Approx. 38 years ago, though I fail to see any correlation between what little time I spent in the workforce having to do with respect, morals and standards, and standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

Judging by societies approach to BS in the workplace, I think it's safe to say that people (in general) have resigned themselves to the fact that BS exists in every workplace, so suck it up and shut up... societies answer and solve to today's problems.

What a sad state of affairs this world is in.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but "Pride & Scruples" sound nice & sweet as long as you don't have hungry kids & you won't be living under a freeway overpass. Easy to judge when you have zero skin in the game.
 
win231 said:
Sorry, but "Pride & Scruples" sound nice & sweet as long as you don't have hungry kids & you won't be living under a freeway overpass. Easy to judge when you have zero skin in the game.
Click to expand...
As I mentioned in my previous entry, "a sad state of affairs this world is in".
 
Aunt Marg said:
No, Jules, my feelings would not change, it's called pride and having scruples.

At the end of each day I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and ask myself, are you happy with your performance, and if I were employed behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen preparing food for needy people or restaurant goers, and I willingly knew and was aware of inconsistencies related to food-safe practices, questionable sanitary practices, i.e., such as cleaning cloths being dropped on the floor and then being reused to wipe off clean dinner plates before serving, along with any other despicable behaviour that was present, the last thing I would do would remain quiet.

It just goes to show how much ground society has lost when people today would rather look the other way and pretend all is rosy, rather than standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

It's called having respect for oneself, and I'd have no respect for myself observing unacceptable nonsense going on around me by fellow employees, job loss or not.

Last time I was in the workforce? Approx. 38 years ago, though I fail to see any correlation between what little time I spent in the workforce having to do with respect, morals and standards, and standing up for what's right and what's wrong.

Judging by societies approach to BS in the workplace, I think it's safe to say that people (in general) have resigned themselves to the fact that BS exists in every workplace, so suck it up and shut up... societies answer and solve to today's problems.

What a sad state of affairs this world is in.
Click to expand...
I have not remained quiet. I also have made no headway by reporting it. Until you're in the situation you really don't know how you would feel. It's different too if you're married and can fall back on his income and the comfort of knowing you won't be homeless. There isn't much that can be done when the people you have to report to don't care and the Feds come through and do a 5 min sweep of a survey and declare it good. This kind of thing goes beyond my reach.
 
All kidding aside, it is a sad state of affairs. I totally understand where Jules and Marci and Win are coming from. No matter your scruples, family comes first and if they are dependent on that income, of course you keep your mouth shut. Jobs aren’t a dime a dozen anymore and especially in the food industry. Look how many people put up with all kinds of unfairness and wrong doings because their families are dependent on that job and insurance coverage
And the state inspections are laughable and fraudulent and always have been. So who is going to back you up if you blow the whistle?
N-O-B-O-D-Y. I don’t know what the answer is or if there even is one 😡
 
Everything posted above also applies to hospitals in South Australia
Last time I was in a private hospital I was in a 2 bed share room and the Cleaner (at least I think that's what she was) went into our ensuite and at the time I thought something was odd....she had NO cleaning equipment with her and because of patient safety they do not store cleaning products in hospital rooms. The Cleaner stayed in the ensuite for a few minutes came out then said a cheery goodbye and I didn't see her again in the 4 days I stayed in hospital
I had been in this same room a year earlier and huz gave me a potted plant that time which somehow ended up on the floor so I asked for the dirt to be picked up and put back in the plant pot....and no-one could find a dustpan and brush???? The Student Nurse came in and scooped up the dirt in her hands....she did NOT wash her hands after :sick:
Some loose dirt was left in 2 corners of the room and would you believe the same dirt was in the same 2 corners when I ended up in this sad room a year later. I had taken a couple of photos so I had a record of it
I did complain and after writing a letter of complaint to the hospital board they graciously 🤬 refunded my hospital fee
I complained to the Australian Medical Association and basically anyone who should be interested in patient safety
 
Last edited:
Aunt Marg said:
Of course it won't change with the rollover mentality that's so prevalent in society nowadays.

In order for change people have to learn to stand up, not lay down.
Click to expand...
Sorta amusing (almost). One minute, it seems you get it. A few minutes later, it's "I'm holier than thou 'cuz I would do this & that." Then you seem to get it again, then "People have to stand up, not lay down."
Makeupyourmind. :)
 
MarciKS said:
I have not remained quiet. I also have made no headway by reporting it. Until you're in the situation you really don't know how you would feel. It's different too if you're married and can fall back on his income and the comfort of knowing you won't be homeless. There isn't much that can be done when the people you have to report to don't care and the Feds come through and do a 5 min sweep of a survey and declare it good. This kind of thing goes beyond my reach.
Click to expand...

This kind of thing happens in lots of other businesses, as well. The reality is that management will find a way to get rid of an employee who complains, and all that will have been accomplished is that the employee is now out of a job, and possibly blackballed so he/she will never find a job in the industry again, which of course isn't supposed to happen, but it still does. I cannot fault a person who doesn't "stand up" to management when the only thing that will result is that person's unemployment. And as to blackballing, despite the laws about references, all it takes it for management to give a legal written reference, and then pick up the phone and inform the new potential employer off the record that the applicant is a troublemaker.
 


Back
Top