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?

Should they wear normal rubber gloves or should they wear sterile surgical gloves? Should they scrub up before hand perhaps??

You’re unlikely to catch anything from bread. Salad bars are far, far worse.

Yeah i'm a bit funny about it. I once had a salad from Morrisons that had someone's long hair in it - I've been nauseous about 'open' food ever since. Also seen flies inside Lidl around the bakery stuff too (as our local one has the bakery right by the door) that puts me off too.

I also wonder how long it's been since the shelves/trays were properly fully cleaned too

Meh. I imagine they wash their hands a lot. And I'd rather they did that then keep binning disposable gloves just to put bread on the shelves.

It's not as bad as you're making out.

I watched a snottery nosed 3yr old at the weekend licking his fingers and touching a jam donut to get the sugar off, in full view of his mum, and it just reminded me why I never buy unwrapped bakery items.

I even mentioned to the staff at the bakery counter and they agreed it was awful but never made any moves to remove the donut. The mind boggles how on earth they think cakes at infant height is a good idea.

What the eye doesnt see the heart grieve.

Never had food poisoning except once from a Chinese takeaway and i think it was the rice. I have eaten Chinese takeaway for 35 years.

I would rather east a few germs that don’t affect me than expose the planet to 1000 years to decompose the wrapping.

I assume everyone who’s being hyper vigilant about this has never worked in a food factory. If you had, I doubt you’d eat anything you hadn’t grown/made yourself! Frankly, I take a “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude to this kind of thing.

After standing in the bakery in Waitrose last week next to a man with a streaming cold who kept rubbing his nose with a tissue then picking up items and putting them down............ I'm never buying anything unwrapped from a counter again.

I was told on a food hygiene course that wearing gloves is like to be more germ ridden than bare hands , because hands are washed and gloved hands aren’t.

I once saw a man plunge his hand deep into the jelly bean section of the pick and mix and have a good old maul of the jelly beans. Never eaten pick n mix since

I worked in a food factory and nobody wore gloves unless you had a cut. But it was very strict with handwashing. I think it will be the same in all factory's.

Ooooohhhh people have touched everything. Oh no what will you all do now. Haha.

Ds worked n the checkout in Tesco, he said they were super keen about hand hygiene and the soap in the toilets made his hands sore it was so strong.

The main problem in the food industry is workers coming in the day after D&V, because they can't afford more sick days
Depends on company policy and how much is paid

nothing was prewrapped
... when I was young too, but especially when my grandmother was young. She lived to 92yo. Something protected her.

I never buy anything unwrapped, partly because other people touch them, but mostly I see the odd fly landing in stuff, and those barstewards shit on everything. I remember once being in Morocco and a street vendors good were covered with flies

If you saw the state of the egg that went into many products, you'd never eat it again.
Yes it's pasteurized but in goes the rat poo, shell, and anything else that can fall in. Ooh flies seemed to be the main ingredient.
So when you next buy an item that states egg, now you know.

I never buy those open rolls. Disgusting to think what's on them.

Have you really looked at the tongs op...i prefer washed hands to them.

A few years ago they brought in a law in New York that meant all food handlers had to wear gloves. It was abandoned as it had a negative effect on hygiene. People don't wash their hands wearing gloves and don't change them.

Why do you want to increase the amount of single use plastic?

What about the employees who restock the fruit/veg do you expect them to wear gloves too?

You wash/cook fruit/veg. You can't wash a bread roll.

yeah, I don't buy self serve stuff like that

People are gross, most people (esp men, apparently. And kids!) don't wash their hand after going to the loo. pick their nose. Sneeze in their hands etc etc.

I've seen far too many people coughing near open foods (bread products, salad bar, fruit) to even contemplate buying these items! 😭
I still buy fruit.. But I rinse in vinegar before eating 😂

I never buy the bread/rolls that are unwrapped. Too many people touching, sneezing and coughing all over them. The café in Sainsbury's is the worst. Cakes on display with people queuing and coughing all over them.

The worst I saw was somebody sneeze directly onto the cream cakes and then say ‘weeeellllll, I’m not touching those now!’

And a close second a man picked up and uncovered bread roll, knocked it in his bald head (I assume to test for freshness/softness), dropped it back into the basket and dusted his hands off into the basket

It amazes me that when things like this happen in plain sight several observers do not hesitate to help themselves

Unwrapped bakery shelves are up there with serve yourself deli-counters in the Yuk stakes for me.

I never touch them ... unlike others.