AIBU to think open bakery items in M&S are unhygienic?

[Guthealing]

Went to m and s on the way home - it was busy. I was absolutely shocked at the bakery area and then nearer the front of the store a table with unpackaged loaves of bread ?

As it was after school there were children there and I saw 2 touch some of the pastries , people were looking at them talking and breathing all over them and one woman coughed 🤮 the loaves of bread at the other side were being picked up and put down , a child was moving them about, how can this be hygienic??! Why is the bakery area not covered in some way? I usually go to Waitrose and their bakery items are in a cabinet at least. M and s isn’t cheap so why are they not more hygienic!!!!

Absolutely agree, I don't buy from them for this reason.

I once saw flies all over the pastries yuk

I often buy stuff from the M&S bakery and I'm still alive, so meh.

Yes i agree , the one near my has big pretzels on 'hooks' in the bakery dept and they are low and totally exposed and touchable.
I think they have sacrificed hygiene for aesthetics !

Yes I think it must be for some kind of image as it’s definitely not for hygiene reasons !!

I don’t buy open bakery items from any supermarket, some people are feral near openly displayed baked goods. I’ve seen people in Lidl and Tesco pick things up and put them back too, the worst one was a child picking up donuts in Tesco and the mother telling them to put it back, utterly disgusting.

Same. Their bread looks lovely but the fact that's its unwrapped and on a table in the middle of the aisle where anyone passing could touch it repulses me.

TBH I’m surprised it’s allowed any more under food hygiene laws.

Waitrose are just as bad. People have 0 hygiene standards these days.

I’m immune suppressed and I just can’t risk buying from the bakery. Some m&s stores will freshly cook items if you’re immune suppressed and ask, they did for me when I was just days out of hospital post transplant, but generally it’s not something which is available.

I’m like you, I’ve never given it much thought and I’m still standing. Very rarely ill either.

It makes me feel ill and I cannot eat places that do this - some very posh places do! I went to a deli in London selling £12 sandwiches and they were all just out and open on a LOW TABLE, behind the queuing areas - ideal for toddlers to fondle, dogs to nose and the queue to fart on! Urghhhhhh

I have just had a chocolate muffin from the open display at M&S on oxford Street. Yum!

We bought a loaf from there not long ago and the person on the till opened the bag, picked up the loaf with her bare hands to scan the bar code. There was a huge queue behind me so I didn't say anything. Got home and threw the loaf away. I wish I'd had the nerve to say something then and there. I emailed M&S and they said they'd make their staff aware of handling. Same for many supermarkets though so have started making my own.

Same here. It’s fine. We’re so much fussier about these things than other cultures.

Having grown up in a developing country I find this attitude very odd - yes I too can eat pretty much anything and never get sick - Egypt and India were fine for me but the rest of my family were unwell. Me being fine and saying therefore it's fine for everyone is like me saying "well I can read it, so what" to a dyslexic or "well I can get the stairs" to a wheelchair user - we are meant to keep things safe for EVERYONE! Even people with less robust gut fauna!

I like M&S food, but I never buy their, or anyone elses food that is unwrapped and on public display, unless of course I can wash it when I get it home.

We really are not - my attitude is entirely from my ethnic minority immigrant father who was fastidious - and we all wash our hands before eating - the way he taught us.

And many of those cultures have higher instances of illness and mortality.

Hasn't this always been around? Lidl has it too, I dont think it's an issue.

Stunning and brave.

I haven’t been to an m and s in a while as usually go to Waitrose as it’s nearer and they have a cabinet with bakery goods in so I was a bit surprised today !

I nearly bought a pastry there this week, saw it was £2.65 so went to Lidl. At £2.65 I think they could afford a bag

This obsession cleanliness is becoming ridiculous.We lived for centuries without food items being in sterile conditions. I’d rather have a good immunity and relaxed mind than to be so over obsessed with a few germs.

Yes they need big single use plastic containers to keep us safe

I often have a Portuguese tart and buy the olive sourdough bread, I'm still here also and rarely get ill.

I see how disgusting some people are: sneezing and coughing without even trying to avoid people so of course they do the same all over unprotected foods.

I like the look of the M & S breads but I won't ever buy them (or anyone elses) just for this reason.