Subway - the KNIFE and other disgusting practices

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Replies

  • parys1
    parys1 Posts: 2,072 Member
    What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger

    ETA: Pretty much what Jorra said..
  • clarkeje1
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,641 Member
    Honestly, Subway disgusts me in general.

    All that pre-sliced meat thats been sitting around in the open for hours... no thank you.

    Give me Jersey Mikes any day... where they slice it fresh, and it tastes a thousand times better.

    This!
  • downsizinghoss
    downsizinghoss Posts: 1,035 Member
    I have seen worse in my own kitchen lol
  • I'm lucky then. The Subway I usually go to has 2 containers of knives at the end of the line. One filled with a whole bunch of clean knives, and one filled with dirty knives. They cut your sandwich with a clean knife and then throw it in the dirty bin.
  • OkieinMinny
    OkieinMinny Posts: 834 Member
    Generally speaking, if you're overly concerned about sanitation I wouldn't suggest fast food.

    I was just thinking this. If a knife and glove at Subway is upsetting, you probably shouldn't go out to eat anywhere, ever. I've worked at enough restaurants, fast food and otherwise, to know this is the VERY LEAST you have to worry about.

    ^^^ Why I make sure NOT to piss off any servers - I KNOW what they are capable of....:noway:
  • trophywife24
    trophywife24 Posts: 1,472 Member
    Generally speaking, if you're overly concerned about sanitation I wouldn't suggest fast food.

    Yeah that's pretty much the bottom line, right there. Grossness goes on everywhere, you just see it at Subway.
  • I've never seen that before (maybe they don't do it the same in Canada?). They have squeeze bottles for the sauces and the knife is only used to cut the bread.

    But then again I only get 6 inch ones so they don't even need to cut mine :)

    My friend did get food poisoning from Subway once. He can't stand the smell of it now.
  • A subway local to were I work did this as well as handling change (which is full of bacteria! :sick: ) and taking other things from the shelves like crisps and cookies without changing gloves or using alcohol gel. They even served me OUT OF DATE CRISPS! :noway:

    So I emailed their head office and they sent the details to the manager of the store who personally contacted me apologising offering a free subway meal and that he will speak to the staff.

    Since then they change gloves, wipe knives between sandwiches with alcohol wipes etc. They have one person on sandwiches only and one on the till only who also gets you drinks and crisps etc. They've been doing it properly now for 3 months :happy:
  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
    At the end of the line - when they have all the glop on your sandwich (note here - I despise mayonnaise and most dressings) they need to fold the sandwich up so they reach for - the KNIFE. The knife that is dripping with mayo and other dressings from the last 50 sandwiches they've made that day. They lay it on your sandwich to hold the toppings in place, fold over the top, and extract the knife such that those remnants get scraped onto your pristine, veggie patty, pepperjack on wheat sub with everything but cucumbers and carrots and a touch of red salsa sub.

    The other thing that disgusts me - the server standing there, waiting for the next sandwich on the assembly line. They are wearing those plastic gloves - for our protection I presume - and they proceed to wipe the counter and push leftover stuff into the trash hole using just the glove, then turn to you and ask what you'd like on your sandwich.

    I'm sure much worse happens behind the scenes at a McDonalds, Hardees, etc. but it's 1) not where you can see it, and 2) I don't eat at those meat-factories.

    Ha! Great first post and welcome to MFP!

    That does sound disgusting and now I'm going to be watching for it! :noway:
  • MsNewBooty83
    MsNewBooty83 Posts: 985 Member
    ya, that whole sliding the used knife between the two slats in the cutting counter is sick too, i can only imagine whats in there! now that im actually thinking about this....*barf*

    that being said...i sometime whipe off the knives i use at home and throw em back in the block, lol

    soooo....after reading some of the other posts, yah, i guess fast food or restaraunt food is eat at ur own risk...but generally i think most places r ok. what doesnt kill ya makes ya stonger! lol
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    I don't eat at Subway; mainly because I rarely eat fast food. When I do go, it's because my daughter wanted to stop there.

    Singling out Subway for their sanitary practices is ridiculous. It's as good as most Fast Food places and better than many.

    You could find something to grieve over at any fast food place. Do you enjoy thinking about how many other orders of fries were cooked in the same grease as yours? If you want to control the level of quality of your food, don't go out to eat. But....what organization is revieiwing the health level of YOUR kitchen or that of your friends?

    Relax. Have some leftover Halloween candy.
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    oh, in the uk, they have squeezy sauce bottles, the knife only gets used to cut the breads.....

    I was gonna say, they don't use the knife here, just to cut the bread...
    Ireland is the same. All the sauces are in squeezy bottles and the only thing the knife is used for is cutting the bread.
  • BeingAwesome247
    BeingAwesome247 Posts: 1,171 Member
    Generally speaking, if you're overly concerned about sanitation I wouldn't suggest fast food.

    Unfortunately, as Sara_wins mentioned, it's not just fast food. There are a lot worse things than the subway knife at most normal restaurants where the food is all made in the back. The problem at subway is that you can see it. Whereas, at most restaurants it's out of sight, out of mind.

    This....

    Also have worked in a few different fast food places when I was young and subway was by far the cleanest.
  • BeingAwesome247
    BeingAwesome247 Posts: 1,171 Member
    I don't eat at Subway; mainly because I rarely eat fast food. When I do go, it's because my daughter wanted to stop there.

    Singling out Subway for their sanitary practices is ridiculous. It's as good as most Fast Food places and better than many.

    You could find something to grieve over at any fast food place. Do you enjoy thinking about how many other orders of fries were cooked in the same grease as yours? If you want to control the level of quality of your food, don't go out to eat. But....what organization is revieiwing the health level of YOUR kitchen or that of your friends?

    Relax. Have some leftover Halloween candy.

    :drinker:
  • kaylalryan
    kaylalryan Posts: 136 Member
    I have never thought about this... but now that I have... I think Subway is OUT for me!
    I recently realized how much sodium is in their crap and have slowed way down on it... BUT now I'm done.
  • Yeah, I don't think I will be eating at Subway anymore. I guess I never paid that close attention to their practices. What about Jimmy John's? Any better?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I worked in a steak house when I was at college and the chef was so disgusting for years I wouldn't eat anywhere that didn't have an open kitchen so you could see how the food was prepared.
    One night he dropped his wig in the deep fat fryer, pulled it out and continued cooking people's food. Still fancy some french fries?
  • goffley3
    goffley3 Posts: 68 Member
    Subway is gross anyway. Make your own sandwiches!!!!
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    ooh... I never thought about that. now that will be all I can think about as they go for THE KNIFE.


    vangorder.gif

    honestly... this has kinda scarred me for life.
  • I HATE mayo and I wanted subway tonight...now I am second guessing it! I dont notice that they are bad at mine with the gloves and stuff...but that knife you are so right...AGHHH guess never paid attention. :(
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I believe in a strong immune system.

    When they ask me what toppings I want on my sandwich I always tell them I want all the remnants that got slid into the trough that runs along the counter where they make the sammiches. I'm into cleanliness though so as long as they wipe the knife on their pants leg I'm fine.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I worked in a steak house when I was at college and the chef was so disgusting for years I wouldn't eat anywhere that didn't have an open kitchen so you could see how the food was prepared.
    One night he dropped his wig in the deep fat fryer, pulled it out and continued cooking people's food. Still fancy some french fries?

    How is that unsanitary? That oil is hot enough to kill any cooties or whatever may have been in his wig.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    I bring my own knife to subway. I just tell them to make me a sub and show them my nice clean knife.



    ballistic-knife.jpg
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
    My Subway also uses the squeeze bottles for sauces, nd I have never seen them use a knife to mash the sandwich. I don't eat there often, but will continue to sometimes. At most other places, prep goes on behind closed doors and you have NO idea what is happening. At least at Subway you can watch and intervene if something nasty is happening!
  • marathon_mama
    marathon_mama Posts: 150 Member
    Subway is gross.
  • truddy6647
    truddy6647 Posts: 519 Member
    before they start tell them you have an allergy to mayo and ask to have the counter clean and a new knife. This is what I do.
  • MiloBloom83
    MiloBloom83 Posts: 2,724 Member
    At the end of the line - when they have all the glop on your sandwich (note here - I despise mayonnaise and most dressings) they need to fold the sandwich up so they reach for - the KNIFE. The knife that is dripping with mayo and other dressings from the last 50 sandwiches they've made that day. They lay it on your sandwich to hold the toppings in place, fold over the top, and extract the knife such that those remnants get scraped onto your pristine, veggie patty, pepperjack on wheat sub with everything but cucumbers and carrots and a touch of red salsa sub.

    The other thing that disgusts me - the server standing there, waiting for the next sandwich on the assembly line. They are wearing those plastic gloves - for our protection I presume - and they proceed to wipe the counter and push leftover stuff into the trash hole using just the glove, then turn to you and ask what you'd like on your sandwich.

    I'm sure much worse happens behind the scenes at a McDonalds, Hardees, etc. but it's 1) not where you can see it, and 2) I don't eat at those meat-factories.

    What is more disgusting, the Knife or a " veggie patty, pepperjack on wheat sub with everything but cucumbers and carrots and a touch of red salsa sub"?

    Ugh! If i had to eat this, I'd grab "the knife" and stab myself.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    While I don't like mayo, that's not the part that really disturbs me. As a somewhat picky vegetarian, I really don't like meat touching my food--it just grosses me out. (For those of you who don't get this, just imagine flys touching your food, or something that just touched a fly touching your food--yuck, right?) So they make my sandwich on a piece of paper that much is good, but the make it wearing the same gloves they just touched meat with, AND then they use "the knife." I try not to think about it, but sometimes I can taste the meat (tuna and bacon especially). It makes me want to gag. Needless to say, I only eat at Subway when there is no other option.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    I worked in a steak house when I was at college and the chef was so disgusting for years I wouldn't eat anywhere that didn't have an open kitchen so you could see how the food was prepared.
    One night he dropped his wig in the deep fat fryer, pulled it out and continued cooking people's food. Still fancy some french fries?

    How is that unsanitary? That oil is hot enough to kill any cooties or whatever may have been in his wig.

    I hope it was real hair though, otherwise there is some sort of plastic in that oil. I agree though, hot oil will kill anything that might be on there.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    While I don't like mayo, that's not the part that really disturbs me. As a somewhat picky vegetarian, I really don't like meat touching my food--it just grosses me out. (For those of you who don't get this, just imagine flys touching your food, or something that just touched a fly touching your food--yuck, right?) So they make my sandwich on a piece of paper that much is good, but the make it wearing the same gloves they just touched meat with, AND then they use "the knife." I try not to think about it, but sometimes I can taste the meat (tuna and bacon especially). It makes me want to gag. Needless to say, I only eat at Subway when there is no other option.

    Your hands are made of meat and they touch your sandwich too. Or do you wear gloves when you eat?