Community Chat

[Irshgrl31201]

On 3/20/2015 Cakers1 said:

On 3/20/2015 petepetey said:

<em>How do you know that those people ever wash out their thermal mugs</em>? To be serving and making beverages in the public like that doesn't seem sanitary to me.

<br />

You don't. Anymore than you would know how often a fountain drink dispenser is flushed or how often a self-serve yogurt/soft serve ice cream hasn't been double-dipped or a clean plate is used for every refill at a buffet.

Fountain drink dispensers are gross in some restaurants.

[petepetey]

I will just have to learn to live with the fact that the world is a dirty place and more often than not people have dirty hands.

Sometimes I do get sick from public food/drink. Most of the time I do not.

Thanks for all the replies!

[sfnative]

I have a favorite purple thermal mug from Death Valley that I just love because I doesn't have a handle on it (would not fit in my cup holder with a handle on it).

Any way, I always wash this puppy out at home really well with hot water and Dawn after Starbucks use and can tell you that I've brought it back for my latte on a number of occasions, had the barrista look inside my mug, then walk over to the sink and wash it out, because apparently my soap and hot water washout wasn't good enough.

So, I don't know what's doing on at other Starbucks, but my Starbucks in San Francisco, San Diego and Portland have been doing a great job of keeping an eye out for my personal mug.

I believe the issue here, as the OP perceives it, might be the bucket. Being the food industry, I feel certain that Starbucks has done samplings which have been plated for bacterial and mold growth, otherwise, I'd be getting sick, because my gut over-reacts to just about anything. What we also don't know is the temperature of the water and how often the water is changed out. Those two variables are important pieces of knowledge to have on board.

Perhaps the best thing for you to do is to express your concern to corporate Starbucks. I had a really bizarre thing happen once as I was standing in line - a line that was going no where. Stood and stood and stood and stood. My Dad was ill in a nearby hospital and I needed to get back to him with new pajamas and had stopped just to get an iced latte, but this was ridiculous. And, I was standing because there was no one to be found. Hel-ooooo, says I. Absolutely no one came out from the back. Then people started forming a big line behind me. Yo ho! I saw staff inch their way out from the back - but stopped and chatted and chatted and chatted. This as ridiculous! If it wasn't so hot outside, I would have been gone. At this point, I turned to the two gentlemen behind me, raised my right hand and made it do it yack-yack movement and pointed toward the entry to the back of house, because they couldn't see what was going on and I could, then just raised my shoulders like I really don't know what's going on here. I let another minute go by and again verbalize, Hel-loooo, followed by "can we have some help out here, please. You've got quite a line of customers waiting." Well that got them moving. After I received my drink and had walked about 30 feet away, the two gentlemen who had been standing behind me in line walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. The senior man introduced himself as Starbuck's Regional Director for western states!!!!!! And he had with him his Asst Director and the manager of the Starbucks I had just walked out of. He mentioned the manager by name and said that ______ had something to tell me. The manager was made to apologize to me and give me a loaded Starbucks card. The Director gave me his business card should I have further questions, etc.

I found this encounter positive in the extreme and praise Starbucks for the manner in which the Western Regional Director handled the situation.

(The Director and his Assistant were in that Starbucks to "shop" the store: e.g. check up on service, product, cleanliness, etc.)

[Cakers1]

On 3/20/2015 Irshgrl31201 said:

On 3/20/2015 Cakers1 said:

On 3/20/2015 petepetey said:

<em>How do you know that those people ever wash out their thermal mugs</em>? To be serving and making beverages in the public like that doesn't seem sanitary to me.

<br />

You don't. Anymore than you would know how often a fountain drink dispenser is flushed or how often a self-serve yogurt/soft serve ice cream hasn't been double-dipped or a clean plate is used for every refill at a buffet.

Fountain drink dispensers are gross in some restaurants.

Hi Irsh: Ugh. Watch people doing refills. I've seen people put their water bottle up to the water dispenser (touching the spout) to refill at some of the ""nicer"" restaurants.

Let's not even get into the hands that prepare your food.

[4Kicks]

sfnative: I bet they were there because they had received COMPLAINTS about that particular store, don't you think???

[ROMARY]

I carry those small antibacterial wipes packets with me in restaurants. After I'm seated, I wipe my utensils/handles, hands, etc. using a couple of packets. I have friends who dip their forks/spoons into their glass of water first. Then they order something else to drink. (Iced tea, etc.). Ask for wrapped straws, and/or they usually have a few in a zip lock bag.

[NoelSeven]

You are correct, and my guess is the person fixing the drink was doing it wrong.

If I were you, I'd talk to the manager about it. I wouldn't want to get a coffee there, either.

[NoelSeven]

On 3/20/2015 Irshgrl31201 said:

If this bothers you then please do not touch menus at restaurants, handles for any doors, don't flush a public toilet with your hands, touch elevator buttons, handrails or counters in public. These all test positive for fecal matter regularly. The world is imperfect. If people can stay alive eating street food in India, I think people who eat at Starbucks will be just fine.

IMO, that's very different. That's talking about germs we pick up on our hands, which is pretty easy to control for: don't put your hands on your face or near your eyes, or anywhere near your mouth, use Purell when you're out.

Totally different when we are talking about something that goes from someone else's mouth to ours. There's no way to control for that in some instances.

Germ contamination in restaurants is serious. Not long ago, we had a serious scare here when it was discovered a restaurant worker had hepatitis. And awhile back, my daughter had to wait out a contamination scare (for 21 days) because she'd had a sandwich at Nordstrom's, served by someone with a communicable disease who had been traveling and picked up something in the water.

[muttmom]

On 3/20/2015 ROMARY 1 said:

I carry those small antibacterial wipes packets with me in restaurants. After I'm seated, I wipe my utensils/handles, hands, etc. using a couple of packets. I have friends who dip their forks/spoons into their glass of water first. Then they order something else to drink. (Iced tea, etc.). Ask for wrapped straws, and/or they usually have a few in a zip lock bag.

How would dipping utensils in a glass of cold water make them more sanitary?

[NoelSeven]

We can't avoid coming in contact with germs, but we can lessen the odds of contamination.