Why do we use cutlery in restaurants

[Nannyogganny]

I was thinking this recently

Those knives, forks and spoons have been INSIDE thousands of other people's mouths.

I was starting to get disgusted by the thought. I think it is such a weird practice.

I have now bought my own cheap plastic disposable cutlery, and bring it with me

How is it unreasonable to point out that, in many places, cutlery does not go through a dishwasher?

I was a kitchen porter I never did that not even during a busy Sunday service everything went through the incredibly hot dishwasher. You must go to some seriously downmarket grotty places.

I worked in a pub 15 years ago - just your average family establishment that served food and one of my jobs was polishing all the cutlery - rinsing it in scalding hot water and, wiping it with blue roll and folding it in a napkin. It's very obvious when cutlery hasn't been polished like this, it's dull and watermarked.

Surely you would just use your own cutlery and take it home and wash it up, why would you use disposable cutlery

I think for food hygiene you don’t need to have a dishwasher (and not everything could be dishwasher anyway) but need to have sufficiently hot soapy water and another sink for rinsing/sanitising.

I’m just not that arsed about a normal level of germs. I touch loads of things that other people touch all the time. I touch door handles, gates, bags, handrails etc. I drink out of glasses and eat off plates that many 1000s of people have used before. It just doesn’t bother me. I would change cutlery that was visibly dirty but that’s as far as I go. I have a normal level of hygiene I think - wash my hands a normal amount, shower daily, change into house clothes when I get in, brush 2+ times a day. I think my skin and nasal passages, stomach acid, immune system etc will protect my from fork germs. My own skin and mouth are crawling with bacteria - probably more than the average fork. I’m a bit particular about chopping boards but not cutlery. I’ve worked in some boak-tastic hospitality settings in my youth but still happily tuck in.
My camping cutlery is steel and inexpensive probably better than carrying around plastic. Do you take plastic glasses and paper plates too?

And yet you’ve only just realised that restaurant cutlery could be dirty?

Pull the other one, the fake threads are getting 🥱 at least make the effort to make a long and exciting story up.

If your that worried how do you cope with eating the food?

Yes, you do not need to have a dishwasher. FSA does not monitor the temperature of the washing up water throughout the year.

I worked in an inn with questionable hygiene in some areas, but even it had an industrial dishwasher. If a domestic dishwasher is good enough for baby bottles, a restaurant dishwasher is sufficient to wash and sanitise cutlery.

I worked in a pub with a Five rating for hygiene. It did not have a dishwasher, industrial or otherwise.

Hundreds of thousands of people go to cafes and restaurants every day and eat meals using the cutlery provided with their food, completely without harm.

Jesus OP this is bonkers

This!

The big question is are people getting ill? And the answer is no, sure, there are occasional reports of restaurants causing food poisoning but, generally, no. Most people go to restaurants, bars, hotels etc... use everything and are fine. Obviously places need to have hygiene ratings and standards but, for the most part, we are pretty sturdy and capable of dealing with stuff. Obviously if you are vulnerable or imuno-supressed then that is slightly different and I could understand taking your own (metal) cutlery but if you are in fairly good nick then get on with it.

Ingesting microplastics from the disposable cutlery will cause you way more issues than using regular cutlery.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202400326X#:~:text=A%20plethora%20of%20kitchen%20utensils,then%20be%20ingested%20alongside%20food.

There are certain things in life its best not to think about this is one of them

This is why I always wear a gas mask, can’t be breathing air that has been in other people’s lungs. Better safe than sorry I always say!

Ha, bet you never had a metal clamp for your smear test that had been inside thousands of other women. LOL
NHS wastes loads of money on plastic disposables.

If you need to take your own cutlery why are you not taking your own plate as well?
think of the germs that must be on the plates!!

If you are going to be seriously odd op at least take cutlery you can take home and wash rather than just throw away.

But who wants to sit on someone else's bodily fluids? Gross.

Or air that has come out of their arse.

I often wonder this myself!

Piss on seats is caused by people hovering. Why don't they wipe it off after?

Really they all do? What are you basing this on?

why can't the lazy idiots lift the sit first