Retail Deli Slicer Cleanliness

[jp61]

I haven't purchased lunch meat for quite a while until this past two weeks. Yesterday around 4 PM, I bought some turkey and store brand salami from a chain grocery store. The salami smelled and tasted like @zz,  didn't notice till after the fact that part of the salami was discolored. Shouldn't have done it, but I also gave some to the dog.Turkey seemed OK. Ate a little of both for a quick snack and made a turkey sandwich for work. Today my digestive system is stressed (pretty sure I'll be fine, I hope). I remember standing there watching this women slice the turkey, (salami was pre sliced) and thinking to myself, "that slicer looks nasty". Next time I'm in that store, I will talk with the manager and suggest to him or her that they need to do a better job at keeping their deli slicers clean. What do you think?

A quick search suggested they should be cleaned at least every four hours? 

Is there an FDA regulation on how often a retail deli slicer must/should be cleaned? This slicer looked like it has not been cleaned all day at the time of my purchase.

 

[daveomak]

Below is a thread I posted some time back.....    

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...you-buy-sliced-meat-etc-from-a-deli-must-read

 

[chef jimmyj]

Hope you feel better Joe. I was a Deli Manager 17 years ago. We did get Health inspections but they were infrequent, one a year, and not that strict compared to Restaurants. Giving a full breakdown, clean and sanitize every 4 hours according to guidelines? Not likely that will ever happen. As with many businesses, short staff and limited equipment often makes thorough cleaning prohibitive. A small grocer has 2-4 slicers and weekdays 3-6pm and Saturday or Sunday is way too busy to shut down a slicer and dedicate a staff member to clean it. If you handle the Deli meats properly, the risk is minimized like with how you handle the raw meat you buy at the grocery. I had my team keep a bucket of Sanitizing Wash for wipe downs after juicy Roast Beef or stinky Liverwurst or for when there was a litte lull in business but I was already trained in Food Safety and knew better.  The store opened at 7AM and closed at 10pm and that is the only time you stripped the slicers for a detailed cleaning. Deli Meat Platters are usually safer because they are made first thing in the morning before the slicer gets trashed. Look at the Deli, staff and area. If cooler doors are always open, to save time, area and staff are messy and meats are discolored, get Take-Out for Lunches or find a better Deli...JJ 

 

[jp61]

 
Hope you feel better Joe. I was a Deli Manager 17 years ago. We did get Health inspections but they were infrequent, one a year, and not that strict compared to Restaurants. Giving a full breakdown, clean and sanitize every 4 hours according to guidelines? Not likely that will ever happen. As with many businesses, short staff and limited equipment often makes thorough cleaning prohibitive. A small grocer has 2-4 slicers and weekdays 3-6pm and Saturday or Sunday is way too busy to shut down a slicer and dedicate a staff member to clean it. If you handle the Deli meats properly, the risk is minimized like with how you handle the raw meat you buy at the grocery. I had my team keep a bucket of Sanitizing Wash for wipe downs after juicy Roast Beef or stinky Liverwurst or for when there was a litte lull in business but I was already trained in Food Safety and knew better.  The store opened at 7AM and closed at 10pm and that is the only time you stripped the slicers for a detailed cleaning. Deli Meat Platters are usually safer because they are made first thing in the morning before the slicer gets trashed. Look at the Deli, staff and area. If cooler doors are always open, to save time, area and staff are messy and meats are discolored, get Take-Out for Lunches or find a better Deli...JJ 

Thanks Chef!

Don't know how many slicers they have altogether, I want to say at least three, probably more. Obviously I don't know if this incident was just coincidence or not. Either way, they need to do a better job to at least give their slicers a quick wipe down once in awhile. I should have just kept on walking and bought a TV-dinner or something else. I will have a friendly chat with the manager next time I'm in there, I'm not the only customer that buys their Deli meats. No one should be a statistic do to neglect or the mighty bottom line.

 

[jp61]

"Speaking of the devil"

Here's a recent article 

 Don't forget, stuff always happens to other people.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Chef Jimmy,

When are the packaged meats sliced? Morning as well?

 

[atomicsmoke]

They should at least have a slicer for dry meats and one for moist stuff. Thanks for bringing this up. Not buying sliced meat often but good heads up.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Chef Jimmy,

When are the packaged meats sliced? Morning as well?

Depends on the store but in general, pre-sliced and packaging often gets done near closing. Pre-pack is a good way to slice up ends and if odd shaped, can be hidden with the best slices. Some stores pre-slice and tray up the meats on special for fast sales. Staff can just grab handfuls from the display case, weigh and wrap. This is done periodically first thing and replenished during slow periods. Leftover pre-slice will get packaged and put out for after hour sales or quick pickup.

If you are a Germaphobe and worry about getting sick from other people handling your food...You will make yourself Crazy and have to resort exclusively growing your own veg and meat and process everything at home in a Biosecure Bubble, as THIS is the only way to be 100% confident it was done right. Between Farm and Grocer, multiple people and questionable equipment comes in contact with your vegetables and meat. Did the Farmer spray fertilize that Organic Celery with liquefied Cow manure? Did the Migrant Pickers stop harvesting, go to a clean bathroom and wash there hands before returning to the field? Did the the Top Round fall on the filthy floor before the butcher cut it into London Broil and wrap on the same equipment that they just wrapped Chicken on? Did they use the best cuts to process into Deli Bologna, Salami or Chicken Roll? Can you always trust that Restaurant workers give a crap or are trained properly? My kids are trainers and managers in well know chain restaurants. The min wage, I'm only taking this job for gas money, kids upper management/HR hires often take little pride in themselves and how they handle your food. They are definitely not Food Professionals! My girls write up or terminate these kids all the time for cleanliness, personal hygiene and general neglect with following strict food safety practices.

Deli Meats are safe IF you handle them as Raw Meat, don't purchase more that you will eat in 5 days and are an individual in good health. Not all food handlers are careless but they are out there. Most Restaurants and their workers are conscientious and are safe to eat in without worry. Don't make yourself crazy but pay attention to whom you buy from...JJ

 

[jp61]

Thanks Chef JJ, for all the info!

 It must have been CG, coincidental gas! The salami was nasty though and so was that slicer, that's for sure.

Just to be clear, I don't freak out about food safety but, at the same time I'm aware of some of the many potential food borne threats.

Years ago I signed up on the USDA site to receive e-mail notifications for recalls (they come after the fact, unfortunately).

I get a boatload of e-mails almost daily, to the point where I don't even look at many of them (almost none of them have effected me, my family or friends) anymore, even though many are serious to whomever it may effect. 

I play the lottery by choice in hopes of winning "BIG MONEY" 

 

I must play the eating "game", but I'd rather not win and I definitely don't want to hit the jackpot when it comes to food safety.

So I try to be careful about things in general, like looking in both directions before crossing the street lol.

Can't blame the driver for running my dumb @ss over if I walk out in front of his/her car. 

The four hour cleaning guideline, does that come from the "danger zone"? Sounds like it does.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Joe, I was not specifically intending my comments at you and was more describing how easy it would be for folks to worry themselves into a frenzy. Some things are just reality. Most restaurants have mice and or roaches because most distributors have mice and or roaches and that is because warehouses have mice and or roaches and producers have mice and or roaches. It goes on and on. If that makes one crazy or you worried about it too much, you would never eat out again or buy groceries. I had a student that said she and her family refuse to eat rice. Her Dad told her that when he was in Vietnam he saw workers answering the call of nature in the fields and continuing the harvest.

 Some stuff you just shouldn't worry about...

I am right there with you on CG! Last week I had JV Brats. They were still quite pink in the inside but I was hungry and and running late so I ate them anyway. They didn't make me sick from any bacteria but I worried so much about it that my nervousness gave me nausea. I thought myself sick...JJ

 

[jp61]

 
Joe, I was not specifically intending my comments at you and was more describing how easy it would be for folks to worry themselves into a frenzy. Some things are just reality. Most restaurants have mice and or roaches because most distributors have mice and or roaches and that is because warehouses have mice and or roaches and producers have mice and or roaches. It goes on and on. If that makes one crazy or you worried about it too much, you would never eat out again or buy groceries. I had a student that said she and her family refuse to eat rice. Her Dad told her that when he was in Vietnam he saw workers answering the call of nature in the fields and continuing the harvest.

 Some stuff you just shouldn't worry about...

I am right there with you on CG! Last week I had JV Brats. They were still quite pink in the inside but I was hungry and and running late so I ate them anyway. They didn't make me sick from any bacteria but I worried so much about it that my nervousness gave me nausea. I thought myself sick...JJ

 I need to get a dictation software....typing is not one of the joys in my life, especially with mostly two fingers. English is a second language and the mother tongue isn't much better, if at all. While typing my post I was thinking that I should mention that I knew you weren't directing your comments specifically towards me, but I decided to skip it. So here I am trying to explain blah, blah, blah, blah

. One thing I never liked about forums is that there are too many misunderstandings, misinterpretations, etc., in this form of communication.

I know all about roaches in restaurants. Worked at this fancy seafood joint (ice sculptures in the lobby many of weekends) back in the day as a dishwasher, later moving up the ladder to the prep area

lol, before deciding to join the Marines Corps. Anyhow, the roaches were crawling up the walls in this place and I got a kick out of raising their IT with the spray stainless steal cleaner and my lighter. Made a pretty good flame thrower! We were allowed a free lunch, something simple (cheap), like a burger and fries. One day, one of the line cooks was going to hook me up with a New York strip steak. I was standing next to him when he pulled out the steak drawer. I don't remember the exact number but two or three roaches were in there living the dream. Uhmm, thanks but I'll have a cheeseburger instead. The place was kept clean, exterminator on a regular basis to no avail.

One last thing real quick. They were short on busboys one day, so guess what, I got to wear one of them fancy maroon jackets. So I'm taking a tray full of glasses filled with ice-water to this table of eight or so. Two very tall glasses left on the tray opposite of each other sitting on the edges. I lift one glass off of the tray and guess what happens to the other. It decides to dump all of its content down the back of this nice lady sitting bellow. Needless to say, my busboy career was short lived.

 

[bluewhisper]

My second job was as a prep cook on evening shift at a TGI Friday's. They closed the kitchen at 10:00 and until midnight we cleaned everything so the morning shift had a spotless kitchen to trash start their shift.