Local butcher hygiene

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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9,160
I found this amazing butcher where I live, it's hidden away and not in a prominent position like the other butchers. The food is fantastic, they do some great BBQ food like sausages of all different flavours, marinated kebabs (chicken and lamb), big meaty ribs etc. It's also extremely reasonably priced and considerably cheaper than the other butchers.

Although I have been using them almost exclusively for the past year or so, one thing really makes me feel uncomfortable. They take your money (cash or card) and hand it back after you watch them handle chicken and other meats.

I haven't got OCD and constantly washing my hands etc but something doesn't sit right with me. Am I over reacting?
 
Man of Honour
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4 Jul 2008
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(''\(';.;')/'')
Should really be using disposables for handling the meat (oo err) and then taking them off to deal with the cash, or at least washing hands in between. Could maybe try mentioning it to them, given you've been a customer for a year you might have more pull.
 
Associate
Joined
1 Jul 2011
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1,728
you see a lot of people at food counters wearing blue gloves, they handle food and then take you money still wearing the same glove, they might as well not be wearing them.
Especially worrying in the summer when notes and coins are pulled out of sweaty pockets
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Aug 2010
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On the Wagon-East Angular
For most meat it's not an issue, as you're going to be cooking it. There's more risk from handling the contaminated money than anything that will be cooked off the meat.

If it were cooked food on the other hand, then no way. If I do a public event, I have one person dedicated to taking money, they will not handle any cooked food what so ever.

Edit - ah it's the 'contaminated money' aspect you're worried about? It's still not a real issue imvho
 
Caporegime
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1 Jun 2006
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Notts
tbh most people dont understand butchers and small things often get blown out of proportion.if most people went into the back of majority of butchers they probably wouldnt eat me.
 
Man of Honour
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tbh most people dont understand butchers and small things often get blown out of proportion.if most people went into the back of majority of butchers they probably wouldnt eat me.
nah they wouldn't, they might be disgusted, but people quickly put it out of their mind. Used to work in an abattoir and it didn't put me off.
 
Caporegime
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1 Dec 2010
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Welling, London
I handled money and meat on my dads stall when I was younger. No one said anything and no one ever reported being ill after eating it.

Mind you, these were the days of not even needing cold storage for cryovac meats. When people had iron stomachs through bacteria conditioning. We're so finicky now about every little aspect of food hygiene. It's one of the reasons we waste tons and tons of food each year.

If my mum buys a bag of carrots that go out of date on the 1sr, she won't eat them on the 2nd, even if she wants them. She'd rather chuck them and buy fresh. Crazy stuff. I'll eat most things a day or two after, maybe more.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
11 Mar 2004
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76,634
If my mum buys a bag of carrots that go out of date on the 1sr, she won't eat them on the 2nd, even if she wants them. She'd rather chuck them and buy fresh. Crazy stuff. I'll eat most things a day or two after, maybe more.
unfortunately most of society is like this now. Its so easy to tell when food is off in most cases.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Feb 2013
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Perth
If someone was letting a raw chicken breast drip all over a cooked pie or something I'd have a problem. Handling raw meat and money not so much. First of all, the chance of anything spreading from their hand, to your change, to your hand is minimal. Secondly, you should be washing your own hands before preparing food anyway.

It's a similar thing to that daft product that was released a few years ago, an automatic soap dispenser, so you didn't have to touch the dirty pump. Daft because it completely forgets that you touch the pump before you wash your hands!
 
Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2008
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Jarrow
The thing I see most often is putting chicken on the scales, then using the same hand they handled the chicken with to seal the bag and hand it over. So you end up with a bag of chicken with chicken residue on the side next to your other shopping in a basket. Probably that big a deal at a butchers, but it worries me when it is a butcher within another shop.
 
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