Telling her not to let her child touch all the food?

[aaronslands]

I'm currently on holiday and this morning went down for breakfast
It's a buffet breakfast.
I'm stood behind a lady and her daughter (probably 6 ) and she's walking around touching the sausages then she touched the bacon
The mum is saying "oh do you want that?"
The daughter says no and she walks on (leaving the food she touched )
After the 5th time she did it
I said "excuse me ,I don't mean to sound rude but it's not very hygienic to let her touch food if she's not going to put it on her plate-it's a bit off putting for other people"

She looked at me -said nothing and kept walking

Was I in the wrong?

I was in a hotel restaurant for the buffet once when a woman walked her dog up to the hotplate to choose sausages for its breakfast.
For some, boundaries are a pre-lockdown concept.

So would I, if a child has not been taught not to touch food then speaking to the parent is unlikely to get a positive response.

Buffet etiquette is often awful. I have often seen people using fingers or using one spoon or set of tongs across multiple items, merrily cross contaminating everything they touch. I'm not precious about food but I have medical issues that mean I need to be sure what's in my food. I avoid self serve type scenarios now unless I really know the provider, and take a pack up if I'm not sure there will be safe food for me. It's a pain at times but what can I do?

If you have to ask a bunch of strangers as to the rights and wrongs of buffet food being touched by anyone with anything other than tongs or serving spoons, then you need lessons on food hygiene. I'd have told staff and politely demanded those containers of food be thrown away and replaced by freshly cooked items. Kids fingers are bug heaven.

You were not wrong but in your place I would have directed my comment to the child "Darling, don't touch the food you are not going to eat".

One the serious issues we've lost these days in society is that teaching social manners to children is not just the responsibility of parents, but the whole community. I learnt more about how to behave socially from going with my parents to a bar/restaurant in Madrid, and how strangers kindly told me what not to do, that by any chats my parents gave me.

We need to relax and accept that children's lack of manners is because they are too young to know any better. A stranger kind voice telling them what not to do, can be fundamental in their social development. Except if the parents make a huge issue/fight because of it (which unfortunately is what happens too often)

I'm glad you said something. I would have thought it but probably wouldn't have the guts to say it, then be annoyed at myself afterwards

" Oh poor da'hling! Let me get you a napkin! You touched the sausages! And you touched the bacon! Let me help you! Here, I will wipe your fingers! Now maybe don't touch anything else before it's on your plate, o.k.?

(repeat this - loudly - as often as necessary 😎)

I went to a similar holiday set up with a buffet breakfast and i remember seeing a kid around age 7, helping themselves to the food and sneezing (no hand/tissue) all over the buffet. No adult with them. That was the end of my breakfast!!