Dirty Misses In Fast Food Places

Introduction

There’s a reason fast food chains are called fast food!  Fast food is convenient, quick, and addictive.  Who doesn’t like hot French fries occasionally?  However, if this is common for your meals, you should know some general information about your selections before you place your next order.

Pro tip: If you want French fries hot, order without salt or ask for a fresh batch with salt. The workers LOVE that! (haha)

Fast food places have high standards for cleanliness and food prep, but not all employees have those same high standards. There are health inspections, however, many establishments don’t pass them with flying colors.   

In this post, I review the dirty misses you may have never thought about when ordering your fast food and drinks!  I won’t call out specific fast-food chains or chain restaurants as they all share these common oversights.  Some are better than others, but that depends on management and how well employees are trained and supervised.

Dirty misses

Soda lines

Did you ever order a soda and after the first sip, think to yourself it tastes off?  Soda lines should be cleaned daily.  Mold can grow rapidly if not cleaned regularly.  So, the next time you taste that funky tang, it’s probably the flavor of mold.

Mold is concerning, however, food-related illnesses is also alarming. Food-related illnesses come from humans responsible for the maintenance of machines. If workers aren’t practicing clean hygiene habits like washing their hands, then contaminants can be transferred to the machines.

Pro tip: Buy a bottled drink, it’s probably cleaner.

Drinks made with milk (think coffee)

If you’re a coffee drinker and you frequent a certain place, just know milk is left out during busy times and starts to grow bacteria when the temperature drops below 45° F.  You may not notice if you use a drive-thru, but order inside the location once and you can witness it for yourself.  

Ice machines

Ice machines are seldom cleaned.  If a machine is low on ice, more ice gets dumped on top of the old ice.

Scoopers are supposed to be used for sanitary reasons, but if not placed back in the holder, hands are used as scoopers.  Reports of bugs, dirt, food particles, and whatever else might be in ice machines were found when inspecting fast food establishments.

Pro tip:  Skip the ice in your drink.

Fryer oil

Changing the oil in deep fryers depends on the quality of the filters, the size of the vats, and oil filtration. Oil should be changed every couple of days, but some fryers can go weeks before changing the oil.  This is another area where oil goes rancid and spoils the taste of food if not properly cleaned and changed regularly.

Oil for fried foods

As tasty as those deep-fried foods are, it’s the oil they’re fried in that’s not so healthy.  Most fast food places use partially-hydrogenated oils (PHOs) and trans-fat is created when heating the oil. More on seed oils.

Heat lamps

Of course, you want your hot food served hot, hence the heat lamps.  However, heat lamps are misused in many establishments as the food should be held under the heat with a timer.  Once the time is up, the food should be removed and thrown out.  Hint:  It’s not always tossed 😉

Pro tip: The freshest food at just about every fast-food place is tomatoes.  They’re not pre-made, bagged, or frozen.  They may not be the best quality, but neither is any of the other food you’re ordering.

Grill marks

Not all grill marks come from the grill!  Some of the grill marks on your meat are fake.  The meat is pre-cooked and stamped with dark stripes using chemicals to enhance the markings.

Microwaves

Many food items are pre-packaged and arrive at fast food and chain restaurants frozen, thawed in-store, and heated to save on cost and time which is why it’s cheap, fast, and easy.  The food is most often heated in a microwave.  Fast food chains that don’t use a microwave.

Ice cream machines

Machines that dispense “ice cream” if not cleaned properly and regularly can build bacteria inside the machine.  Many employees have posted videos showing the mold dripping from the machines.

According to the FDA, for ice cream to be advertised as ice cream it must contain at least 10% milkfat or butterfat.  For example, Dairy Queen and McDonald’s call it “soft serve” because it has less than 10% milk fat which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it’s a trade off for other ingredients that may be found in soft serve.

Fast-food service tips

If you want faster service, get in line at the drive-thru.  The drive-thru is treated as first in line even if you go inside to order.

The best time of day to eat at a fast food place is when it’s busy.  Food is turned over quickly, so your food won’t be under the heat lamp for long if at all.

Check your food and receipts before walking or driving away to save time and resolve any mistakes quickly.

Conclusion

Eating fast food occasionally won’t wreck your health, but don’t make a steady diet of it if you value your health.

To make optimal choices, read the nutritional information before you decide what to order.  You can find this information on the website of your favorite fast-food chain.

Be nice!  If you’re rude when ordering, you may get a dirty little surprise in your food and not know it.

In optimal health,

Lisa