If you are like me, you probably enjoy going out to restaurants once in a while; maybe on a date or celebration, or maybe just to grab a quick bite to eat. Regardless of the reason, you have probably been exposed to the same things that I have, and I’m not talking about wrong orders and/or poor service.
When you sit at either a booth or a table with chairs, look around at your surroundings and you will most likely see the same things that myself and I’m sure just about everyone else will see. There are usually 1 of (in many places all of) 6 items that remain on the table (or booth) you are sitting at;
- Ketchup bottle
- Mustard bottle
- Salt shaker
- Pepper shaker
- Sugar container
- Menu
All of these items are used throughout the day and night, week to week; month to month…you get the idea. How often do you think that these items are cleaned, I mean, are there protocols that are followed to clean these items? I’m not a betting person, but I would think that these items sit on their surfaces daily without any hope of getting cleaned.
I want to tell you a little something about me; when I was a kid, I hated when my cousin would be with me at a restaurant. I love my cousin, but the fact that she would not order either a pop (soda) and then want to share mine; or steal some of my fries or use my fork…it grossed me out and I would most of the time just let her have the rest. As I got older, I learned to be more accepting to this and was more willing to share with her…she is after all my cousin right?
What I now have problems with is sharing with people who I don’t know; like you the person reading this article. To put this complaint in perspective, let me throw a few numbers at you that GMA put together in a study they did on this topic. In terms of germs located on these 6 items on a table (booth) at a restaurant, these are the number of germs that were found;
- Sugar (2,300 germs)
- Salt (3,740 germs)
- Mustard (4,780 germs)
- Ketchup (7,880 germs)
- Pepper (11,600 germs)
- Menu (185,000 germs)
So the next time you go to a restaurant and touch one of these items, think about all of the people who also touched them and how many are not your cousin.
OMG!!! My boyfriend and I go to this diner by him and I think that menus at that place are gross and sticky to begin with, so now I know why. Is there a list of places that are worse than others? I would think fast food places would be better (cleaner) than a diner, but either way, I think drive-thrus are cleaner.
It’s a "crap shoot". They all vary, just keep your eyes open like you have been. Diners are as clean as their owners.
The counters and seats are pretty awful too. Its funny; I went to a "Denny’s" the other day (I’m in college and that’s the best thing around), and the seats were ripped and the table had some film on it that was gross.
Touch as little as possible, wash your hands before and after you eat, and no matter what do not touch your face while eating!
Here’s something I do at restaurants. I try to keep my fingertips from being contaminated by grasping the salt and pepper shakers only with the part of my fingers closest to my palm. It’s a little awkward at first, but you’ll have no problem at all with a little practise. I can even remove the cap to the ketchup using my palm. If you just concentrate on keeping your fingertips, or a select few fingertips "touch free" you’ll be fine when it becomes necessary to touch your food before putting it in your mouth.
Great information, every little bit helps. Thanks Scott. Let us know any more of your ideas!!
Grossest thing I have witnessed, twice!, people licking the opening of a ketchup bottle/container.
I can’t believe that pepper has such a high number