My Local Butcher

maklabouhlel

maklabouhlel

maklabouhlel

Associate
Joined
26 Nov 2009
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1,232
Hi. My butcher serves me without wearing gloves and his hands are always bloodstained. The plastic bag he gives me has bloodstains on it and any change he gives me also has bloodstains on it. Is this normal practice?
 
I hear they also have animals running around in the slaughter houses - they're handling food there ffs!

(that's probably not actual blood, and there's no need to wear gloves when prepping food (do you think chefs do?))
 
cheesyboy said:
I hear they also have animals running around in the slaughter houses - they're handling food there ffs!

(that's probably not actual blood, and there's no need to wear gloves when prepping food (do you think chefs do?))
Click to expand...

There is when handling money in between though, cash is filthy.
 
cheesyboy said:
They're selling food which requires cooking. To be honest, if there is a problem, I'd have thought the main contamination issue might be the raw meat on the cash.
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Butchers usually sell things like pork pies and other cooked items as well.
 
Yeah, and whenever I buy those things they take extra precautions (washing hands and/or picking them up through a plastic sheet/bag). If this guy doesn't then that's a problem, but I don't think the details in the OP are any sort of issue.
 
I've wondered this about my local butchers too. More so the cash part, if anything. I've never noticed his hands being bloody though. I can't even remember if they wear gloves.
 
Not good practice, there really should be separation of cash and food. Equally if going from raw to cooked hands should be cleaned. Most of the busier butchers I've used over the last few years have differnt people dealing with cash and cooked foods to raw meat.
 
cheesyboy said:
They're selling food which requires cooking. To be honest, if there is a problem, I'd have thought the main contamination issue might be the raw meat on the cash.
Click to expand...

Whilst I don't think there's a massive cause for alarm I wouldn't personally want a butcher not taking care when handling raw meat just because I was going to cook it. I might want to cook it rare, make tartare or many other things where it matters more.
 
Gloves aren't always used properly either. They might have a pair of gloves on and then subconsciously rub their nose and then deal with meat or produce.
 
The only real process that works is a different person taking the money - our butchers wearing plastic gloves, put meat on a plastic sheet, may need to use two hands to cut sausaages off a string at which point the glove they will directly be taking the change with touches the meat - would you complain ? your changes has then been contaminated by the meat (but was probably already dirty) using credit card avoids him having to touch change for your transaction - need a butchers which does not do cash ?
I think you have to mince your own if you want tartare or rareish beefburgers
 
Whilst I was butchering, three years ago or so, it was bare hand, but wash before handling cooked food or reverse bagging it. Old dear in the corner always sorted out the money :p

If you're wearing gloves you often forget to wash your hands or cannot feel dirt on them.
 
Why would you go there a second time if you weren't happy the first ?
 
As said the numerate 'old dear' has now gone, no other competitor to this (also award winning) pork butcher in this town; and I think they are all afflicted by this problem. (probably Fortnums and Maisons excepted)
fickle - The gratis sausage roll samples they sometimes give helps me forget.

If there was a food hygiene document that explained a correct process I would be all to keen to print a copy off and give it to them face to face as an ultimatum before going big (still regretting the hours of my life lost watching some of recent stupid bbc1 undercover series )
 
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