Tag Archives: Mcdonalds

Millionaire City boss tells staff to eat two-day-old burgers … to remind them how lucky they are to still have jobs

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Local health-types are a bit miffed that UK gazillionaire Damon Buffini decided to punish the inflated egos – and bellies – of his staff by sending out for more than 100 McDonald’s burgers, waiting two days and then providing the aged burgers for a staff lunch.

Buffini apparently told the gathered staffers he was tired of their poor attitude, reminded them how lucky they had been in life, and that lunch would not be taken at any of the smart restaurants in and around Covent Garden. Instead, they were told to eat their ‘two-day-old’ burgers and reflect on how fortunate they all were to still have their jobs.

The burgers were apparently reheated.

Andrew Hamadanian, senior communication officer for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said,

“Without knowing the specific details, McDonald’s and other fast food are made to be eaten straight away. We would not encourage eating food that may not have been stored properly between purchase and consumption.”
 

Maggots on Big Mac in NZ?

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The New Zealand Herald reports that Northland health authorities are investigating a complaint from Lianne Tansley after her 15-year-old son, Issac, claims a burger sold at the Whangarei’s Bank St McDonald’s was filled with maggots.

Isaac ordered a Big Mac and cheeseburger from the drive-through on New Year’s Day. He finished the cheeseburger but didn’t start eating the Big Mac until he and his mother were nearly at their Whangarei Heads home.

"He took the top bun off to take out the gherkin, and then he said, ‘My God, Mum, look at this’," said Lianne Tansley. "The whole patty was moving as if it was alive. It was gross." When she rang McDonald’s a manager took her name and contact details and asked her to bring the burger back in to be replaced. "I said, ‘No thanks, I’m never eating there again’."

Nine days later, after Tansley sent a photograph of the burger to the Northland District Health Board and the Northern Advocate newspaper, McDonald’s regional operations manager Sanjay Kumar rang her.

He apologised for the delay and said the matter hadn’t been brought to his attention, she said.

McDonald’s national communications manager Kate Porter said it was unlikely maggots could have hatched in the beef patties, which were cooked from frozen when orders were placed.

The restaurant apologized to the mother and given her $135 of vouchers for more burgers.

McDonald’s, U.S. retailers pull some tomatoes

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McDonald’ s Corp. said Monday it has temporarily pulled tomatoes from its sandwiches in the United States, a precautionary move in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that has sicken at least 145 in 16 states.

McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman was cited as saying the company has not detected salmonella bacteria in any of its tomato supplies, "but with an abundance of caution, we want to make sure our food items containing tomatoes are absolutely safe." McDonald’s said it will continue to serve grape tomatoes in its premium salads.

Winn Dixie in Florida announced they have pulled tomatoes off the shelves, will destroy the tomatoes in stock, and are asking their customers to not eat them. Giant Eagle Supermarkets of Pennsylvania has also pulled a variety of green, yellow, Roma and organic tomatoes off the shelf as a precaution.

The Tampa Tribune reports that trucks of Florida-grown tomatoes were being turned away by retailers Monday. Florida is not on the list of safe tomato-producing states – those not linked to the outbreak – nonetheless, state agriculture officials say Florida-grown tomatoes are safe to eat and are awaiting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Liz Compton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said,

"We know Florida’s tomatoes are OK. The problem is, they haven’t officially cleared us yet, and we are having trucks turned away. … What we know is that the tomatoes that we’re shipping now were not being harvested at the time in question."

Tampa-based Sweetbay Supermarkets and Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets have pulled all of the suspect tomatoes from their shelves.

McDonald’s Canada pulls tomatoes from menu

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McDonald’s fast-food outlets in Canada have temporarily removed tomatoes from their menu options, after news south of the border that salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 U.S. states.

McDonald’s said in a letter to consumers that it has not experienced any problems to date but consider the move a “precautionary measure."

Below is a news clip from a New Mexico television station about what local restaurants are doing in the wake of 145 sick people in 16 states, and a national advisory from the Food and Drug Administration not to eat certain types of fresh tomatoes.

McDonald’s praised for handwashing and food safety

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Howard Levitt, counsel to Lang Michener LLP, an employment lawyer who practises in seven Canadian provinces and author of The Law of Dismissal for Human Resources Professionals, writes that he is a McDonald’s convert.

Levitt says that rather then succumb to the human rights "police," McDonald’s fought back to protect the right of Canadians to eat safe food. It and Canadians lost.

What Levitt learned from this decision is McDonald’s is a stickler for cleanliness: Employees must wash their hands after every break, after cleaning their work area, before entering the production area, before putting on gloves, after shaking hands, after touching a door handle and on it goes. It is so focused on being sanitary that apart from all the previously mentioned instances, a bell goes off every hour, telling employees to wash their hands.

Besides good corporate citizenry, this reflects the law. It ensured McDonalds complied with the B.C. Health Act and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s Food Protection Guidelines.

But Beena Dat could not comply. A skin condition prevented her from wearing gloves or regularly washing her hands. She went on disability and unsuccessfully attempted to return to work three separate times. Her specialist, Dr. Kit-son, opined he had no doubt, if she attempted to return to work, her "hands would disintegrate in a week." She could not return to any job involving exposure to soap and water, in his view, thereby eliminating "restaurant work of any kind."

Dat complained to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal who appointed Judy Parrack to decide the case, who decided Mc-Donald’s should have cross-examined the specialist rather than taking his medical report at face value.

She also considered whether it was possible pieces of different jobs could have been extracted to create a position Ms. Dat could perform without frequently having to wash her hands.

This is despite Ms. Parrack’s acknowledging all jobs at Mc-Donald’s require handwashing and, depending on how busy a section is, any position might quickly take over for another.

Notably, Ms. Parrack found McDonald’s liable for not attempting to construct such a position and awarded $50,000 in damages, including $25,000 for injury to Ms. Dat’s "dignity, feelings and self-respect."

Worst of all, McDonald’s was ordered to "cease the discriminatory conduct or similar conduct and refrain from committing such conduct in the future." One might think consumer safety should supercede the right of an employee with unclean hands!

A colleague says maybe the judge should eat at McDonald’s and be served only with dirty hands.

A Jason Lee stink palm pretzel, perhaps?