Not to eat in fast food places per their workers
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Meh ill still eat fast food0
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I used to work at KFC, and I remember having to strip off all the chicken off the leftovers and saving it for the pot pies. So, gross old soggy chicken that's been in the warmer for hours and then manually stripped off by uncaring dirty teenagers that just want to go home and thrown into a bag into the deep freeze for up to 6 months.
Mmmmmmm.
Yep - when I worked at KFC as a teenager we had to do the same thing.0 -
My insight as a former chef:
The thing about nuggets seems sketchy, but not entirely unbelievable.
The thing about chili seems extremely probable, as most dishes like soups, chili's, and whatever the "Daily Special" is at any restaurant is usually made with leftover meats. That's why they are always drowned in a sauce, they've already been cooked to hell.
Someone said the workers come in sick. They absolutely do. If you don't, and I never would, you pay for it. Your bosses plan a skeleton crew or less, and your coworkers have that much more work to do.
Restaurants are businesses. It's just good to be as informed as possible if you are concerned by these things.0 -
Many years ago, when I was a young student, I worked at a KFC (for a week before I quit). There were lots of things that grossed me out but the grossest was some chicken that was starting to smell very bad (like rotten bad) and the manager told us to put it in a vat and pour salt on it and then pour boiling water over it to rinse it and then prepare it as usual for the fryer. :sick: In all the years since, I have never once been tempted to go to a KFC.0
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I worked at Burget Kimg back in the mid 1980s and never saw anything gross with the food prep, although we ate and drank while working, which I think is a health code violation. There was a rule against it, but the managers looked the other way because there was never enough time for breaks. The only skevvy things were that the iced tea container faucet would develop a snotlike substance if it wasn't cleaned frequently and the roaches had a home in the bottom of the shake machine, despite regular exterminator visits. Every once in a while one would get into the shake mix.0
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I used to work at KFC, and I remember having to strip off all the chicken off the leftovers and saving it for the pot pies. So, gross old soggy chicken that's been in the warmer for hours and then manually stripped off by uncaring dirty teenagers that just want to go home and thrown into a bag into the deep freeze for up to 6 months.
Mmmmmmm.
I don't know what KFC you worked at but per corporate guidelines that is absolutely untrue, not to mention it violates OSHA.
I used to manage a KFC so I know this for a fact. End of rant.
I worked at a KFC in the late 90s and I was told to "debone" the left over chicken for the pot pies. It's true.0 -
This is so true! My daughter has worked for Little Caesar's Pizza and currently works for a coffee place (not going to mention which one since she currently works there) and they make their workers work even if they have to run to the bathroom from being sick! Up until recently they even had to have a dr.'s excuse for missing 1 day! So who can afford to go to the doctor when they have the stomach bug? So no excuse means they have to work their shift. This is true at LC and her current job.
This is my biggest concern. You don't work, you don't get paid, and they're hard on you if you are sick enough that you're willing to give up a day's pay.
I'm not as concerned about the other practices if there's an effective local Food Inspector. I read the reports in our paper and they're dinging restaurants for stuff we do at home without thinking (storing raw meat too close to fresh veggies, not labeling leftovers as to what they are and when they were made). They're very strict about the temperatures for storing meat, so letting raw chicken sit in water all day would probably be a violation.
Franchises are usually VERY inflexible about how things are made; it's important to them that the chili you get at Wendy's in Cleveland tastes just like the chili you order in LA. I can't see a lot of room for variation, with some stores throwing in frozen leftover patties and some using fresh. One of the reasons I avoid the higher-end franchises (Olive Garden, Chili's, etc.) is that I suspect most of the food is shipped to the restaurant in dehydrated, powdered or frozen form with a minimal amount of work to do to get a portion on the plate. You never see a special on, say, grilled asparagus because they got a good price on it that morning at the local farmer's market. Everything is bought from the parent company. That's a lot of processing and preservatives.0 -
I worked at a golden corral. Honestly, it was a buffet, but they were really good about throwing things out and keeping things clean at location.... we had to take temperatures of all foods and they had to be thrown out if they were in the temperature where bacteria could grow.
My old roommate worked at Wendy's and I have heard the thing about leftover burgers at the end of the night becomes chili. That one doesn't bother me too much.0 -
For the people mentioning the grilled chicken, I don't think that's necessarily McDonald's grilled chicken. I worked for another chain, and that's pretty much how the chicken was kept. Floating in a pan of water all day. I can't remember what we did with it at the end of the day, but we weren't supposed to have massive quantities out, so I think we threw away whatever was left over. I don't remember having to squeeze it. It grossed me out, but not for sanitary reasons, it just looked really gross, slabs of pale white meat floating in water. :sick:0
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Funny but gross......I worked fast food years ago and if something was dropped on the floor, it was fried and served anyway because the attitude was that if anything had gotten on the food, the hot grease would kill it right?...........Gross things happen to food everywhere, even during production so if we are afraid to eat things because of the stories we hear then we would not eat anything at all unless we grow it ourself........0
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In all seriousness, I'm much more concerned about the practices of small local places than places with high levels of standardization like large fast food chains.
Yes. This.
Three episodes of Kitchen Nightmares will make you never want to eat out again. At least at some chains, they've got cameras monitoring the kitchens so customers can see what's going on in the back.0 -
The Wendy's Chili is not made like that (at least it's not supposed to be). I worked at Wendy's as a teenager for a while and the meat for the chili comes in a separate bag, pre seasoned and pre cooked. Just add water.
And if that fact is untrue, I can only assume that the rest are also probably untrue as well.
At the Wendy's YOU worked at it didn't happen... but you can't speak for them all.
I have eaten chili from wendy's where i would have SWORN that it was old hamburgers. To be honest, i consdered it resourceful and not gross. I see nothing wrong with reducing waste.0 -
...I use leftover hamburger/meatloaf in chili the next day. Opps.
I worked at Subway and let me just say, don't eat the tuna. We just add more tuna and mayo to old tuna and stirred it up day after day, unless there was so little left it wasn't worth the effort/the pan was ultra crusty.0 -
Bumping because I find this strangely entertaining.0
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Im going to confirm the Wendy's chili - at our store, it was anything that was overcooked, the patty got damaged or fell apart during cooking due to rough handling, or it was not used in a timely manner (we really did stick to that "made fresh" rule, but only because there were always patties cooking, so a fresh one was always available. If it sat for too long, chopped into the chili it would go.
That said, I really don't think there's anything wrong with it. Your drowning the meat in chili, are you really going to notice that it's overcooked since it's not dry anymore? Do you care that it was handled roughly and fell apart?
Id rather the restaurant USE perfectly edible food instead of throwing it away.0 -
Ugh that is horrible!0
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I waitressed for 10 years in chain restaurants, pizza joints, diners and mid-level non-franchise restaurants. Honestly, most of the places I worked at were pretty strict on cleanliness and proper food handling - I quit if i wouldn't eat the food myself. The non-franchise restaurants and pizza joints even brought in fresh meat, seafood and vegetables daily and made everything fresh. The chain restaurants microwave most of their meat since it's pre-portioned - like Ruby Tuesday's.
Diners and Friendly's are by far the worst. Aways check that parm cheese shaker for mold because most diners don't even refrigerate them and just fill them up each night leaving the stuff in the bottom to go moldy. Most diners make the soup of the day from last week's failed special and skip the chicken tenders at Friendly's because they fry a big batch at 10 am that sits under a warmer all day actually skip everything at Friendly's except the ice cream that you buy in a box, I quit after a week bc their kitchen was so gross.0 -
...I use leftover hamburger/meatloaf in chili the next day. Opps.
I worked at Subway and let me just say, don't eat the tuna. We just add more tuna and mayo to old tuna and stirred it up day after day, unless there was so little left it wasn't worth the effort/the pan was ultra crusty.
Good thing Tuna is too high calorie for me to order from Subway! Sounds like a bad case of food poisoning waiting to happen!0 -
I think it probably depends on the restaurant. I worked in two different places for years, never fast food, but both of those places had managers that were crazy about food safety. We used to have health department "drills" where our GM would come through and pretend to be someone from the health department. And we used to clean out the fridges and the coolers every night; it was sidework for both the kitchen and the waitstaff. So, I think that there are individuals that want to cut corners and try to save money or just don't care anywhere, but it's probably unfair to say that all of a particular chain have the same practices.0
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I wonder if some of these are just practices at that particular restaurant.
I can honestly and with authority tell you... NO!!! It is scary behind the counter!0 -
The nugget one and grilled chicken one are definitely not true. I worked at a McD's for 3 years and trust me, I have seen raw nuggets left out and they do NOT melt. The battered stuff on the outside goes mushy, and that is about it.
The grilled chicken is kept frozen until it is put on the grill. It takes I think it was 7 minutes to cook, being turned halfway through.
This was in Canada.
Sherrybaby, you are describing American McDonald's food too. Nuggets don't melt, and the chicken is kept frozen like it is in Canada.
No offense but do you think that potlucks are any better for you? Nobody thinks "ew, I'm full of germs, better not lick the spoon and then re-use it." I am a stickler to cleanliness practices in my own kitchen BECAUSE of working in fast food.0 -
Meh ill still eat fast food
Yep. My mom was a health inspector for about 40 years. There were restaurants we were forbidden to eat at (due to cleanliness and code violations), but fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. were fine (except KFC).0 -
I worked at Subway and let me just say, don't eat the tuna. We just add more tuna and mayo to old tuna and stirred it up day after day, unless there was so little left it wasn't worth the effort/the pan was ultra crusty.
That never happened at the Subway I worked at. We would use up all the tuna than grab a new bin. If there was any left at the end of the night, we put it in the walk-in fridge for the next day.0 -
What I got from this thread is that cleanliness, food quality/safety, hygeine and the like are going to vary from establishment to establishment...0
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What I got from this thread is that cleanliness, food quality/safety, hygeine and the like are going to vary from establishment to establishment...
Exactly! I don't really eat fast food very often at all, but when I do, I have to be able to see the prep and cook areas.0 -
Lots of folks on here think fast food is a fine staple in their diets.Is any one really surprised by this? Surely no one thought fast food was good food?0 -
Lol anyone watch 'kitchen nightmares'? This stuff happens in other places, not just fast food.
There are two issues - ( a) is the food healthy for you ( is it 'from scratch' or highly processed a and/or laden with sugar in one form our another), and (b)what standards of hygiene are they following. You can have the same issues in a fancy restaurant as in a fast food place. This is why I rarely eat out. Plus it's invariably cheaper to make my own food...0 -
The Wendy's Chili is not made like that (at least it's not supposed to be). I worked at Wendy's as a teenager for a while and the meat for the chili comes in a separate bag, pre seasoned and pre cooked. Just add water.
And if that fact is untrue, I can only assume that the rest are also probably untrue as well.
They did it at the Wendy's I worked at. I never saw a bag of meat for just chili the whole time I was there (about a year and a half), I didn't care the meat was over cooked or mishandled patties, I still ordered chili regularly. When the chili meat did become an issue for me was when I made an attempt at calorie counting, I was like um I don't think the calorie info can be accurate. So, I stopped eating the chili for that reason.0 -
The nugget one isn't true.
Interesting, none the less. I am sure there are many "weird" stories like this that are true, though.
Just out of curiousity, not trying to start an argument, how do you know this is not true. The reason I ask is because my oldest son eats them whenever we go to Macdees. If they really are that disgusting I don't want him eating them anymore. I know that they are really unhealthy anyway, which is why we don't eat there very ofter, but if the nuggets are really that bad I would like to know.
Thanks.
My daughter just finished up a fourth grade science experiment where we took the unadulterated version of a food item and the processed/preserved version of a food item and compared how they changed over time. One of the pairs we used were McDonald's chicken nuggets and a plain boiled chicken thigh.
Over the course of the month we ran the experiment, one of the four nuggets eventually grew a small black spot of mold. Other than that, they looked exactly the same as the day we bought them.
I don't see how a bag of nuggets left out on a counter could melt after a few hours.
This is not to say that they are healthy or good food for children, but as you say you don't eat there very often anyway.0 -
What I got from this thread is that cleanliness, food quality/safety, hygeine and the like are going to vary from establishment to establishment...
...and from worker to worker.0
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