How do you feel about fast food?

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Do you ever worry about how hygienic it is? Like, do you find yourself examining it way too closely trying to find out if someone spit on it or something?

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. There are times when I'm in the kind of mood where I won't order a pizza because I think it's almost impossible that someone working there wouldn't hate their job enough to do something nasty to the customers' food.

There are times when I figure it's worth the risk, but still eat the food cautiously, wondering...

There are also times when a take-away feast is just the most incredible thing ever and I couldn't care less if it was tainted or not, using the logic that dirty people have been preparing food for thousands of years and it's just a regular part of the process that doesn't even matter as long as the food is great.

I recently ordered a large pepperoni and smoked bacon pizza with a cheese-stuffed crust and a creamy cheese sauce inside the base, between two layers... They also gave me another one completely free, which I'll have to save for tomorrow or something, since I could only half finish the first one. While eating it I was kind of cautious, not too worried but still not really relaxed enough to enjoy it to its full potential. It was still pretty good though, good enough to eat until I was full rather than until I felt too weird to continue. I'm kind of getting more able to say "stop being a puss and quit worrying, just eat it" than I used to be.

What about you?

Out of sight out of mind is my motto, with one exception: KFC. Im sure nasty stuff happens everywhere but i worked in a KFC a couple years ago, i stayed about a week. The one i worked in had been around since the 1960's and was falling apart. Some of the guys would brag about things they have done to the food. They never admitted but they made remarks like "you can hide anything in KFC gravy" or "ever notice that semen is the same color as the mashed potatoes" They also told me the story of why one of the booth tables was hanging of one hinge, about five years ago a manager and a crew member had sex on the table after hours and broke it.

About that time, they were converting to a KFC/Taco Bell dual location. We were trained in a restaurant about 20 miles away. I have had extensive food safety and sanitation training in vocational school, i also hold an OSHA card, i am well versed in proper food storage.

One major rule is: if you are going to store food for any length of time, you must bring it from serving temperature (140 or higher) down to below 40 degrees within two hours.

I was being taught morning prep, the crew member took a container of ground beef from the cooler that had been stored overnight, in the cooler for nine hours. He used the probe thermometer and it read 63 degrees, he wrote that on the chart (which clearly states that food outside of range must not be served), put 63 on the chart and put it up to reheat and serve.

I will eat certain fast foods. Hamburgers for example are cooked from frozen on a calibrated timer grill that ensures complete cooking, fries are safe territory, they are cooked in sight, and 375 degree oil is more than enough to kill bacteria, even those put there by employees.

Salads, I avoid like the plague, too many opportunities for mishandling.
Fountain Soda-WITHOUT ICE is ok, there was a story in the news awhile back, a 12 year old did a science fair project and found that the water in the toilets was cleaner than the ice. If the employee puts ice in the cup, then realizes and dumps it out, i make them take a new cup.

Long story short- fast food is hit or miss. Look for foods cooked in hot oil or on a grill, if any pink remains in your burger, throw it out and take a loss, rejected food leads to tampered with food.

One more point: If you have a local burger or pizza place, patronize them. If the owner does the cooking, its a much safer bet. the people working there have a vested interest in keeping customers happy. I have a local place that is cheap and fast, i trust them completely.

The "kids" at a franchise operation like mcdonalds or burger king, or even subway often have little pride in their company, they often feel that their job is secure and one angry customer wont matter.

Local places realize that one upset customer with a big mouth can ruin them, they are more concerned with customer happiness, and are more apt to give preferential treatment to good customers. (orders often, tips well, etc.)

I'd rather cook my own suppers.

I've worked in a kitchen. It's very hard work. You're standing up for hours. You usually have to get up very early in the morning. Feeling so tired and stressed out by getting shouted at by the boss to keep doing something else on a long list of demands you don't do everything you should.

I served food that had been dropped on the floor because the boss was so angry at how late it was I thought I'd lose my position if I didn't. I also served a salad that might have had some of my blood on it. I'd cut myself using a sharp knife because my anti-depressant medication made my co-ordination bad. I removed what I could see blood on but traces of it could easily have been in there.

Whether it matters or not, who knows? In India, hygiene is notoriously bad and yet the life expectancy there isn't too bad. A lot of people there eat food that's been prepared on the floor. I'd say you're more likely to get a food bug from a restaurant than your home because even the cleaning process isn't thorough. We had to clean a lot of pans and kitchen utensils as well as cooking at the same time. Also, there was sometimes so much dirt it was hard to keep the water clean. It's also the case that people don't wash their hands as much as they're supposed to. It's not unusual for people to grab their crotch or wipe their nose and to just wipe their hands on their apron instead of washing.

I used to worry about it, but then I figured since we're all going to die anyway I might as well eat the tasty fast food, grease and rat's saliva and all.

Avoid Avoid!!

Not a fan.

Food safety issues are not just limited to fast food either. One time decades ago in high school (Austin High School in Austin, TX in 1965) I got a serving of turnip greens and when I began eating them, I ended up with one of those 2 inch long copper plated heavy staples in my mouth (the kind they use to staple cardboard boxes together). I took it back to show to the food servers and they could not believe it, showing it around to all of their coworkers. If you haven't grown it and cooked it yourself, you just can't be sure what is in your food.

I am really anal about food safety (it's one of my special interests), but I am getting better with eating foods from different places. I look at it this way: If I eat something from a restaurant that makes me sick or puts me in the hospital, I can sue their asses for everything they got!

It's binding. Is that a feeling?

I haven't eaten at a fast food place in years, not because of safety concerns but because I think the food is just not good. It's greasy and cheap, made with cheap ingredients. Also, I'm a vegetarian.

I have no qualms about my local pizzeria though. I agree with thechadmaster on that.

I avoid it mostly because I'm a vegetarian, so the only real fast food I eat at is Panera (if that counts). But yeah, I can't eat the stuff anymore. Sometimes I steal some of my brother's fries when he goes to Wendy's and it just tastes gross to me now.

I worked at McDonald's for a few months. I hate the stuff. >.<