MrRant 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Dirty dining? ‘Dateline’ hidden cameras investigate cleanliness of America’s top 10 fast food chains Click 'play video' to watch Lea Thompson's report. NBC NEWS Nov. 16 — Fast food: It’s served fast and you eat it fast, maybe too fast to notice the restaurant is a little dirty. The fact is that no one has ever done a national survey looking at the cleanliness of fast food chains — until now. Recently, we took our Dateline cameras undercover for the first-ever investigation of whether America’s top 10 fast food chains are clean and safe. How did your favorite restaurant do? NBC’s Chief Consumer Correspondent Lea Thompson reports. WE’RE A NATION fueled by fast food: burgers and fries, tacos, fried chicken. It’s hot, tasty and easy. And with millions and millions of meals sold every day, most of us just assume it’s all clean and safe. But when it’s not, it can be devastating. After eating at this McDonalds in Erwin, Tenn., last March, one hundred people became violently ill. Some ended up in the hospital, dehydrated and even hallucinating. The Centers for Disease Control says sick restaurant employees very likely contaminated food with a virus, although McDonald’s disputes that. Meanwhile, after eating at a KFC in Colorado, Gianni Velotta was infected with a dangerous salmonella bacteria. His mother says he almost died. Natalie Velotta: “His kidneys weren’t working. I mean, there’s just no words to explain how bad it actually was.” How do your favorite restaurants rate? Was there any way to prevent it? Well, had Natalie Velotta checked, she’d have learned health inspectors had cited and fined that KFC just a few months earlier. Velotta: “If I would have known that they had several health violations, I would not have eaten there.” But who has time to check health inspection reports before they go to a fast food restaurant? Virtually no one, so Dateline decided to do it. The biggest 10 chains have 75,000 restaurants. We couldn’t look at all of them, so we hired a survey company to choose a sample, 100 restaurants from each chain, 1,000 in all, spanning 38 states. We then collected and examined local health inspection reports for the last year and a half on each of those 1,000 restaurants. Some were inspected just once, some more often during that period. In a first of its kind national investigation, Dateline is going to use these health inspection reports to find out which fast food chains in our survey are the cleanest and the dirtiest. What we found may do more than surprise you. Some of the horror stories in Dateline’s dirty dining survey just might turn your stomach. In a Chicago, in a Wendy’s, inspectors found dead rodent decomposing on a rat trap. At a California Taco Bell, someone bit into a taco, only to find chewing gum. An inspector in Texas found a worm in a Wendy’s salad. At a Hardee’s in Florida, a customer was handed a cup of soda with blood dripping from it. There was blood on her change as well. The list goes on. A cockroach in someone’s soda, a sharp metal object in a man’s sandwich. But as disgusting as those things are, they are rare. Experts say the things you can’t see can be even more hazardous. So what can be done about all this? Well, health inspectors tell us it’s not that easy to just close down a restaurant, and they say their power is limited when it comes to even imposing heavy fines. What they can do is cite restaurants for what is known as a hazardous or critical violation. Caroline Smith-Dewaal is with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food safety watchdog group. Smith-Dewaal: “A critical violation is something that happens in a restaurant that may result in the food becoming contaminated.” Lea Thompson: “By definition, is a critical violation something that could make you sick?” Smith-Dewaal: “Yes.” Critical violations are a benchmark for judging a restaurant’s cleanliness. Most food regulations mandate they be corrected immediately, and they are the only type of violations we counted in our survey. They include things like handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands or unwashed hands, undercooked meat, improper food holding temperatures, sick employees preparing food, and a host of other potentially hazardous problems. What may shock you is just how many restaurants had critical violations. More than sixty percent of all fast food restaurants in our sample had at least one critical violation in the last year and a half. How many total violations did each chain have? Here comes Dateline’s dirty dining survey — it’s a top 10 list where no fast food restaurant wants to come in number one: 10: TACO BELL The 100 Taco Bells we sampled had the fewest total critical violations, 91, making it the best performer in our survey. But it was not without problems. Recurring violations included dirty food preparation counters and rodent droppings. 9. MCDONALD’S The golden arches, the 100 McDonald’s we looked at came in with a total of 136 critical violations. Some didn’t have a trained and certified food handler on the job, required by law in many states. Thompson: “It’s that important?” Smith-Dewaal: “Absolutely. We can’t have food prepared by people who don’t know that you can’t combine raw meat with cooked meat, with people who don’t understand the importance of proper temperatures in food preparation.” 8. KFC. The 100 KFCs we sampled tallied up 157 critical violations, and two thirds of the “finger lickin’ good” restaurants had at least one critical violation. Remember, it was at a KFC, the Health Department says, little Gianni Velotta picked up salmonella poisoning last year. We’ve now learned that another child was also sickened there, and the same restaurant has since been cited for three more critical violations. While the Velotta’s have settled a lawsuit against the restaurant, a lawyer for the owner of the franchise contends the salmonella cases did not originate there. 7. SUBWAY The 100 Subways we looked at totaled 160 critical violations. A recurring problem at the sandwich chain was improper food holding temperatures. Thompson: “What does that mean?” Smith-Dewaal: “That means that bacteria in the food that’s already cooked can start to grow, and it can reach levels that can cause serious illness for someone who consumes it.” 6. JACK IN THE BOX The 100 Jack in the Box restaurants had a total of 164 critical violations. A Ventura, Calif., Jack in the Box was a trouble spot. It had several customer complaints of food borne illness. 5. DAIRY QUEEN The 100 Dairy Queens we examined totaled 184 total critical violations. One Dairy Queen in Hampton, Va., rang up a number of critical violations last summer for grime, debris, and a inaccurate thermometer. When Dateline went back recently to take a look, the restaurant invited us in, and showed it had fixed the problem. 4. HARDEES. The 100 Hardee’s tallied 206 critical violations. Again and again inspectors cited the presence of insects and rodents. Smith-Dewaal: “Rodents and roaches are gross. But more importantly, they can also spread germs from food to food, and carry germs into a restaurant.” Last May, one restaurant was cited for not having soap in the employee’s sink. Yet, inspectors found employees handling ready-to-eat food with their bare hands. 3. WENDY’S 100 Wendy’s had 206 critical violations. That’s the same as Hardees, but more Wendy’s restaurants had violations. So Wendy’s is number three in our Dateline dirty dining survey/ At a Wendy’s in Mesa, Ariz., inspectors noted repeated problems with food holding temperatures, mice droppings on the shelves, bare hand food contact, and one food borne illness complaint. 2. ARBY’S The 100 Arby’s had 210 critical violations. The roast beef specialists had recurring violations for improper hand-washing and employees handling ready-to-eat foods with their bare hands. Smith-Dewaal: And clearly, if the person isn’t washing their hands or using other sanitation practices, they can really make people very sick. 1. BURGER KING So which fast food chain finished number one on Dateline’s dirty dining list? It’s Burger King. The 100 Burger Kings we sampled rang up a whopping 241 total critical violations. Health inspectors cited a Virginia Burger King for 14 separate critical violations: employees not washing their hands, uncovered food in the fridge, grime and debris found on this ice chute, and on the drink machine at the drive-thru widow. We observed one employee scooping ice into a cup with his bare hands, an apparent critical violation. SO WHAT’S THE BIG PICTURE? The 1,000 restaurants we sampled totaled 1,755 critical violations, and 613 restaurants were cited at least once. That’s more than 60 percent with problems inspectors consider potentially hazardous to your health. NBC's Lea Thompson: Behind the story Still, in an industry where millions of meals are served... Thompson: “Is it unrealistic to expect a fast food restaurant to come up with a clean bill of health every single time an inspector walks in the door.” Smith-Dewaal: “The government inspector is the last checkpoint. The restaurant itself should be doing inspections and checking for critical violations every day. They shouldn’t wait for a government inspector to tell them they’re doing it wrong.” Steve Grover of the National Restaurant Association represents fast food restaurants. He’s a former health inspector himself. Thompson: “Does Dateline’s survey concern you?” Steve Grover: “It concerns me. I do not find critical violations acceptable.” Thompson: “Why are they there in the first place?” Grover: “Because no one’s perfect. I tell the executives every day, 99.9 percent is not good enough, when it comes to food safety.” Thompson: “What about 60 percent?” Grover: “Sixty percent is not good enough when it comes to food safety.” Grover argues as long as critical violations are being corrected promptly, then the system is working. Inspectors are doing their job, and the restaurants are following the advice of the inspectors as they come through. Most fast food restaurants are owned by individuals, but most chains say they inspect every restaurant that has their name on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted November 17, 2003 mmm...No Shock that Burger King was #1. Worse Food AND dirtest place as well... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Youth N Asia 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I've had no problems with BK. Althoughmy McDonalds is a filthy filthy place, I try to avoid eating there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted November 17, 2003 I find it hard to believe that Taco Bell was the cleanest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Read "Fast Food Nation" for more fun stories about the fast food industry... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 ^^ Is a really cool book. I saw it at Borders. Very interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 Bah. If you go to an urban fast-food place of course it's going to be dirty and disgusting. Good thing they didn't do this study when I worked at one of those places -- lord knows what they might have found in the food I prepared had they pissed me off... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Internet Warfare 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2003 The Burger Pit comes to mind. I'm shocked Taco bell did so well, and Burger King got #1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheArchiteck Report post Posted November 18, 2003 Shit and I prefer BK over all of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Youth N Asia 0 Report post Posted November 19, 2003 Shit and I prefer BK over all of them. You and me both Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Star Ocean 3 0 Report post Posted November 19, 2003 I had to do a review on Fast Food Nation a few weeks ago. Not that my reading the book is the reason, but I try to avoid all fast food places now. There are tons of other restaurants around here, so why have the same fast food all the time? And what about Der Weinershnitzel? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfaJack 0 Report post Posted November 19, 2003 Damn it. I eat at all those places except Arby's (don't like it) and Hardee's (don't have one near me). Guess I need some new places to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smark-Raving Mad Report post Posted November 19, 2003 I've been to some absolutely filthy KFC's. They're usually the worst I see. Everytime I read something like this it makes me stop wanting to eat fast food...for about five minutes. Then I get a craving for McDonald's fries or Wendy's chili or something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2003 Where's White Castle on this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2003 Where's White Castle on this? Everybody knows you don't go there unless you're stoned. Apparently, the reporters knew that too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2003 Shame Popeyes didn't make the list. I heard they serve fried rat now (well older story, but still..) In sanitation class we had to watch the 20/20 special from about 6 or 7 years which was basically the same thing only a bit more extreme. Woman at dunkin donuts scratches herself privately and then gets someone a donut with her bare hands, wendy's salad bar had a fly trap directly over it, guy at pizza hut dropped a hunk of dough on the floor next to a rat trap with a rat in it..etc. My favorite video was the one where they show the pissed of cooks spitting on burgers that are brought back because they arent right. They also didn't show it, but said that they had video of a male employee uh..well uh..you know..on a hamburger. Adds new meaning to the term special sauce... If you let these things scare you enough than you'd never eat at any restaurant, fast food or otherwise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gWIL 0 Report post Posted December 4, 2003 Dude, 1 time I found a fuckin staple in my Arbys Baked Potato Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 Forget about the customers, why the hell aren't the workers complaining? I know I wouldn't want to work anywhere near rat carcasses. Clean it up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted December 5, 2003 here's the thing I don't get... They fuck up your burger? DO NOT ASK FOR A CHANGE VIA DRIVE THRU! GO IN! FOR THE LIFE OF YOU! GO IN! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 here's the thing I don't get... They fuck up your burger? DO NOT ASK FOR A CHANGE VIA DRIVE THRU! GO IN! FOR THE LIFE OF YOU! GO IN! "THEY FUCK YOU IN THE DRIVE THRU"----Joe Pesci, Lethal Weapon 2 Now I will be thinking about this stupid article everytime I hit up the dollar menu at Mickey D's. But their chicken is so gooooooood......double cheeseburgers, so goooooooood. I'll risk salmonella, we all gotta die of something. At least I will die happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 They also didn't show it, but said that they had video of a male employee uh..well uh..you know..on a hamburger. Adds new meaning to the term special sauce. I knew someone that did that in a pizza. here's the thing I don't get... They fuck up your burger? DO NOT ASK FOR A CHANGE VIA DRIVE THRU! GO IN! FOR THE LIFE OF YOU! GO IN! Agreed. And one thing that is starting to really piss me off is when you get your fries and they're not even close to filling up your carton. I bitched about this before here, but now it's going on again. When I say super-size, I mean it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted December 5, 2003 that reminds me... Anyone else do the whole "You keep screwing my order up" routine and hammer it to the point they give you something for free? Sure, your Double Cheeseburger will be snotted in, Pissed in, spermed in, farted in and rubbed over rat poison but at least it was free! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 Anyone else do the whole "You keep screwing my order up" routine and hammer it to the point they give you something for free? Not really, although my next trip through a drive thru the time after I got a single quarter pounder in my double quarter pounder box I made the window chick literally open the box and verify that it was a double with no onion... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted December 5, 2003 That's nice. So when the poor girl is having trouble in her Special Ed class she'll blame you for the monsters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 that reminds me... Anyone else do the whole "You keep screwing my order up" routine and hammer it to the point they give you something for free? Sure, your Double Cheeseburger will be snotted in, Pissed in, spermed in, farted in and rubbed over rat poison but at least it was free! You know what. The customer isn't fuckin right okay. So we screwed up on your order, that could be one of the hundreds of the day. Big fucking whoop, why don't you try and go back there and work and serve the people what they want. Its not fucking easy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 You know what. The customer isn't fuckin right okay. So we screwed up on your order, that could be one of the hundreds of the day. Big fucking whoop, why don't you try and go back there and work and serve the people what they want. Its not fucking easy. Yeah it is. I did it for years at a cheesesteak place. A place that won numerous awards, I might add. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 That's nice. So when the poor girl is having trouble in her Special Ed class she'll blame you for the monsters. Actually, the chicks that work at my local Golden Arches are pretty hot. I was hoping when she leaned forward to check my beef I could catch a cleavage shot, but alas her shirt was buttoned. The ones in Middletown though were another story... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 that reminds me... Anyone else do the whole "You keep screwing my order up" routine and hammer it to the point they give you something for free? Sure, your Double Cheeseburger will be snotted in, Pissed in, spermed in, farted in and rubbed over rat poison but at least it was free! You know what. The customer isn't fuckin right okay. So we screwed up on your order, that could be one of the hundreds of the day. Big fucking whoop, why don't you try and go back there and work and serve the people what they want. Its not fucking easy. Be glad you get Choken as a customer and not this woman... Woman gets 10 years for running over McDonald's manager A McDonald's customer who flew into a violent rage when she was denied mayonnaise on her cheeseburger got 10 years in prison today for running over the restaurant's manager. Waynetta Nolan, 37, could have received as much as 20 years in prison for hitting Sherry Allen Jenkins with her car, dragging the employee across the parking lot and breaking her pelvis at the McDonald's in southwest Houston. Nolan showed little emotion this afternoon when the jury came back with the punishment after four hours of deliberation. Earlier this morning, however, as the jury heard testimony in the punishment phase of Nolan's trial, her 43-year-old victim tearfully said she couldn't pick up her grandchildren because of the injuries she suffered in the incident. "I put the mayonnaise on her burger," Jenkins told jurors. "I took the onions and the mustard off. What did I do?" Jurors took less than an hour on Wednesday to convict Nolan of aggravated assault in the courtroom of state District Judge Brock Thomsas. Nolan testified then that she thought she had rolled over "a bump" when she ran over Jenkins. Nolan was contrite during her testimony today and apologized for running over Jenkins on April 23. She said she had been going through "a bad time" in her life when she lost it in the drive-through line. The incident began when an 18-year-old employee working at the drive-through window near Bissonnet and Beltway 8 told Nolan mayonnaise was not an option on McDonald's cheeseburgers. When Nolan became angry, she was encouraged to pull her car around to the window counter and speak to the manager. Witnesses said Nolan cursed and threw a cheeseburger back though the drive-through window. When Jenkins offered a special-order cheeseburger with mayonnaise, witnesses said, Nolan complained her french fries had grown cold. After receiving new fries, she then demanded a new drink. Unable to pacify the belligerent customer, Jenkins finally called police, who asked her to get the customer's license plate number. Jenkins walked out to the drive-through line to get the number. Nolan testified she had inched her car forward to put ketchup on her burger when she heard a car horn. Realizing she was blocking drive-through traffic, she said, she gunned her car forward and hit Jenkins. After running over Jenkins, witnesses said, Nolan sped from the parking lot and drove into oncoming traffic on a one-way feeder road. She was arrested at her home after a man who saw the assault followed her and reported her plate to police. Jurors had the option of convicting Nolan of a lesser crime, such as misdemeanor reckless driving, but prosecutors said it was her spectacular departure that likely led to her felony assault conviction. "Did she stop?" asked Assistant District Attorney John Jordan. "Did she say, `Oh my Lord, what have I done?' " Nolan's attorney, Troy Wilson, said his client simply panicked. "I think more than anything, it was the panic afterward that hurt her with the jury." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Cerebus Report post Posted December 5, 2003 Dude, 1 time I found a fuckin staple in my Arbys Baked Potato Serves you right for eating at Arby's.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1234-5678 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2003 Dude, 1 time I found a fuckin staple in my Arbys Baked Potato Serves you right for eating at Arby's.... Dude, those roast beef sandwiches, with their sauce........that's some good shit right there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
