7 Things You Should Avoid Touching Restaurants or Diners

Even if the economic situation has not been the best lately, it is still almost inevitable to go out to eat from time to time. Whether it's meeting friends or family, or just getting away from the routine, everyone likes to vary the menu on occasion.

But did you know that you can end up getting sick just from the things you come into contact with in a restaurant or diner? Bacteria and germs spread everywhere in such environments, mainly because there is no time for proper cleaning of utensils every time a customer finishes their meal.

Below we will list a number of things you should avoid touching on these types of establishments. And if that is not possible, keep contact to a minimum and always take hand hygiene products with you when you eat out.

The table

We already started with a complicated topic, how can we eat in a restaurant without touching the table? A study at the University of Arizona, USA, found that tables of establishments where people go for food have a significant number of E. coli bacteria and other coliform genera. Children, the elderly and people with low immunity are particularly susceptible to infections due to these microorganisms.

In fact, the problem is not even the table itself, but the cloth that the local employee uses to "clean" the table. Typically, the same flannel is used to remove food scraps and liquids from the surface of several tables, but is rarely washed and often stored in a pocket. Tables that always appear to be "greasy" usually suffer from this problem because of these pieces of fabric.

The scraps of food on the cloth then serve as a meal again, but this time for various bacteria, which proliferate throughout the day inside that pocket and then spread over the top of the next table that is cleaned with the same flannel.

Obviously, restaurants that use cloth towels and replace them between each new customer or that place paper slides for each new person who sits down for a meal have much lower incidences of bacteria proliferation. Still, if necessary, have the table cleaned with disposable paper towels, not a cloth.

The menu

This is also hard to avoid, as how can we know what are the options of dishes without checking the menu? Because they suffer from exactly the same problem as the tables we mentioned above.

Menus are not replaced often because of the cost they generate, they are handled by many people - who may be sick or with dirty hands - and are usually cleaned by the same cloth that contaminates the table with germs, bacteria, etc.

A 2013 study showed that E. coli bacteria can survive on the surface of a plasticized menu for up to 24 hours, while salmonella extends this limit to up to 72 hours. The tip here is the same: If the menu appears to be covered in fat, it could probably contain some bacteria.

Therefore, as soon as you finish placing your order, ask your attendant to remove the menus from the table and wash your hands before the meal.

The ice in your drink

In summer, cold drinks are pretty much a must when we go out to eat, but unfortunately restaurants and eateries don't usually clean the ice machine as often as they should.

Of course, this also means a good place for bacteria to proliferate, which can end up inside your body because of the ice in your soda or juice, for example. So try to order your drink without ice if its temperature is already good enough to be consumed that way.

Lime, lemon or orange slices

Typically, the kitchen staff of a restaurant or diner tries to get as many things as possible ready before the establishment even starts. This causes them to spend less time on smaller activities that interrupt the pace of food or drink preparation.

So it is normal for these citrus fruits to be cut early in the office so that no one has to stop what they are doing to slice them while making juices or preparing a dish.

However, this exposure to the environment for so long can end up causing bacteria on the cutting board or even in the air to settle on the peel or buds of the fruit. If it is unavoidable to order the lemon or some other similar fruit, make sure at least that the fruit is freshly cut and preferably in front of you.

Flavoring Flasks

Salt shakers, pepper shakers and bottles of ketchup or other sauces are usually only cleaned when someone spills something on them or when they need to be replenished. And yet, rarely are these items washed, cleaned only with paper napkins or the recurring "waiter's rag."

If you want to use any of these things, try covering the bottle with a clean napkin instead of coming into direct contact with it, or apply some hand sanitizer to the parts that need to be touched if you carry one with you. .

The tray

Because people often drop some off-plate food, trays of cafeterias or self-service restaurants are cleared a little more often than most of the items we've seen so far. However, it is quite common for trays that appear to be not dirty to return to the stack of clean items, thus saving a wash.

Obviously, why an object looks clean doesn't mean it is in fact, and there's no way of knowing if the last person handling that tray had any health problems or any other condition that could be transmitted through contact with an item. It was not properly washed.

Whenever you need to handle a tray, try to clean your hands before eating your meal and avoid touching it until you are done eating to reduce the chance of contamination.

The buffet

In a buffet, there is no way for you to know if food is being kept at optimal temperature, and all dishes are exposed for a long time in a crowded environment, which facilitates the spread of bacteria into the environment.

And even when a dish is replaced, often the person making the change scrapes the remnants of the previous portion and mixes it with the new one to avoid waste, but possibly contaminating everything with that action.

When eating at such a facility, try to know the time when the first batch of food is usually served, because the chances of bacteria in a freshly prepared portion that has not been mixed are much lower.

* Posted on 01/09/2016