AIBU to be surprised about Tesco employee

[Singinghollybob]

I was in Tesco earlier and an employee was stocking the unwrapped individual bread rolls, taking them from the crates and putting them on the shelf. I'm not the most germ - averse person however he was handling the rolls with his bare hands. Am I alone in thinking he should be using the tongs that are hanging below the shelves to handle unwrapped food, and wonder what Tesco's policy is?

My mother was a germophobic, she boiled everything I ate off until I was 4. She told me that you can't catch anything from bread, probably not true but she said that was why bread was not wrapped in shops.

There are specific guidelines about at what point a baked item should be wrapped in plastic owing to its tendency to be a fertile ground for bacteria if it's wrapped when too warm

Once when getting HSEd at our shop the guy asked at what point i put the baguettes into their paper wrapping. I said i leave them until they're almost cold otherwise the crust softens and he said that although i was doing it for the wrong reasons that the end result was the same

I’m sure no one has died from eating a bread roll that has been touched by a baker 🤣

I have worked in bakery’s, no one wears gloves unless they have broken skin or a skin infection, people wash their hands all the time (used to wash mine 100’s of times a day), there hands are probably pretty clean.

A little bit off topic but I always think this sort of thing when I go to Greggs for a breakfast sandwich. The staff handle money with their bare hands then turn straight around and without washing their hands they grab a bread roll and make the sandwich which they then pick up and put in a bag for you. I've never once when stood in the queue seen any staff wash their hands. I'm not saying they never do, but they certainly don't in between cash and food handling, or even between every few customers. It doesn't stop me eating the sandwiches, but it surprises me that this is OK food hygiene wise. Does anyone else think this is a bit disgusting?

When I did a food hygiene course we were specifically told gloves were a no no. They give people a false sense of hygiene and cleanliness and encourage people to wash their hands less. What staff should be doing is washing their hands immediately prior to touching food and where there is a risk of cross contamination between different types of food for example.

I worry more when I see someone wearing gloves now.

I’m not a germophobe, but I saw the same thing happen in Sainsbury, and Mentioned it to someone working there.

I didn't pay much thought to this before I watched a women handle pretty much every bread roll, before deciding not to even get any at all. I will never touch unwrapped products now, apart from things like fruit that you wash anyway.

I'm usually the least germaohobe around, and I agree gloves give a false sense of security and nobody probably ever died from a Baker handling food.
I guess I was thinking if he'd washed his hands immediately prior to picking up the crate, then opened the stockroom doors to the shop floor then theres at least 2 surfaces he's touched after washing hands and before touching the rolls again.
Anyway, thanks for your opinions, I'm usually pretty relaxed and pride myself on an iron stomach with these types of things!
And I didn't know that about germs and lack of moisture in bread, so thanks

Oh and I accept ppl touch fruit and veg prior to buying, but one would usually wash these once home before using/eating .

hands

Sorry, but just because someone has gloves on doesn't mean that they haven't coughed or sneezed into their hands, picked their nose or scratched their bum whilst wearing said gloves.

Gloves really aren't as hygienic as people think they are, plus they are hugely wasteful.

Gloves don't stop people touching their hair, face or doorframes etc.

I used to work wrapping bread in plastic.

No one wore gloves

Tesco policy is for staff to use their bare hands for this kind of thing, in the bakery.
And for them to wash their hands frequently.

Staff who wear vinyl gloves are more likely to keep wearing the gloves for a number of tasks without any thought of changing them or washing them.

So bare hands are more hygienic than gloves, imho.

As long as hands are clean it's fine.

Things were cleaner 'back in the day'?

Do you remember a 1980s butcher or fishmonger? Everything was out all the time. There was sawdust on the floor of the butchers to mop up any blood and there were frequently feathers drifting around from the chickens. If you went to the meat market, you'd see entire carcasses hung up. Staff didn't wear gloves in those places or in the bakers. If the greengrocer bagged things up for you, they certainly weren't wearing gloves to do it (other than woollen fingerless ones for warmth).

Nobody wore gloves in cafes and no chef wears gloves in the kitchen even now - there weren't any rules about using different cutting boards and in 1989, when I was a Saturday girl at the supermarket, I was delighted to be rescued by the boss from being ordered to clean the delicatessen fridge, as it was only done once every six months.

OK, you had to wash your veggies (and didn't need to dispose of anywhere near so much plastic) because they still had soil on them (and quite often greenfly or baby caterpillars in the broccoli), but really, there was never any time where people were more hygiene conscious than now.

In our local Tesco I saw them unwrapping the prepacked, out of date broccoli and put it out as loose broccoli.
I assume, as I contacted head office, they now do that in the back out of sight. Sometimes it’s best not knowing what goes on with your food!

Asda used to have a fill your own container salad bar thing. A woman once picked up a spoon of coleslaw from the tub & ate it. She then put the spoon back in the tub to be fair to Asda they did away with it shortly after.

I would assume they had food handling training and wash hands a lot. The average shopper will have come from the car, pushed a trolly around, held their childs hand I would expect the tongs to be for their use not the staff.
I'd still buy after seeing that.

It's a non problem. If you don't want to buy something that someone has handled you won't be able to buy anything from the bakery. Even the packaged stuff is handled with bare hands before being packed.

Our supermarket has just installed a new shiny weighing machine. There was a child leaning right into it, breathing heavily to make it steam up

There is a butchers down the road from us. You often drive past to see a van parked outside, back doors open and carcasses hung inside. It makes me wince a little to think of the traffic fumes getting on the food... but puts touching it with hands into perspective.

You do know that most food handlers in factories don’t wear gloves don’t you?

There’s more chance of you catching something from someone who wears gloves and therefore thinks hand washing and basic hygiene is “optional”, than there is of you catching a dose of the pearl clutching influenza from a food handler who has washed their hands appropriately as per food standards agency guidelines.

I think gloves are one of those things that look like a good idea but are actually really wasteful, unhygienic and whatever else.

YABU for shopping in Tesco though

@Miaowing

Shock horror, I don't even use the tongs since I'm only touching the items I'm buying!

Me neither, those tongs are minging, it's not one tong for each type of item either, most times they've been jabbed into everything else too. I know where my hands have been lol

OakMaiden t fruit and veg are grown beside roads, airports and factories

It's not a requirement of the EHO that food handlers wear gloves. Clean hands are sufficient. Some food handlers choose to wear gloves because the constant hand washing can make their skin uncomfortable or sore.