10 Germiest Places in a Restaurant (Hint: Bathroom Isn't No. 1)

I have tried various ways to avoid restaurants, trying to eat a better diet by taking my lunch, eating at home.

Put up the 8 foot antenna on the drivers side so the car would not fit through the drive thru...

This may be the cure I have been seeking.

Source here

10.
Salad Bar Tongs
The salad bar tongs weren't that bad -- maybe because Americans don't eat enough salad.

9.
Ketchup Bottles
The ketchup bottles weren't harboring anything too awful.

8.
Bathroom Faucets
7.
Bathroom Door Knobs
"The faucets, the door handles ... were some of our least germy items, because they get cleaned," Leamy said.

6.
Rims of Glasses
The hidden cameras caught waiters gripping glasses right at the top where we drink, which gives pathogens a direct route into our bodies. Tests on the samples Leamy took detected multiple bacteria, including one linked with tuberculosis.

5.
Tables
Here's a clue as to how tables could be so germy. Leamy and "20/20" were shown photographs of parents changing their baby's diapers at the table and toilet-training their toddlers in restaurants.

4.
Salt and Pepper Shakers
Half of the swabs Leamy took from them were contaminated. How is that possible? They're used often but are rarely cleaned.

3.
Lemon Wedges
One of the most frequently occurring contaminants in the test results was fecal matter. Half of the lemon wedges tested were tainted with human waste.

How does fecal matter get on lemons in the first place? Cameras caught restaurant workers grabbing lemons with their bare hands, reaching in again and again without gloves or tongs. If they haven't washed their hands well after using the bathroom, germs spread.

2.
Menus
Leamy found the bacteria that causes staph infections on one, and the germs that cause strep throat on another.

1.
Seats
Seventy percent of the chair seats Leamy tested had bad bacteria on them -- 17 different kinds, including strains of E. coli. Why? All customers sit on them, and most restaurants don't think to sanitize them.

So what can you do? For starters, Leamy advised, the next time you go to a restaurant, take a seat, order your food -- then go wash your hands before you eat.

I am studying Health and I approve this message.


Menu's are underestimated here. Many restaurants cycle their menu's without replacing sheaths or sanitary wipe downs. I would have to say you are most likely to get sick if you were to touch a menu's innards then your face as oppose to a lemon, or seat. Seats remain unmolested for the most part, unlike the old menu's.

I just threw up in my mouth, all the lemon wedges I have ordered!!!

Now I have to carry a baggy of lemon wedges for my drinks.

I guess I should bring antibacterial wipes and Lysol with me too.

I don't want to eat at home all the time...I'm lazy!

reply to post by timetothink


Yup...

They sometimes ask me "with lemon?" when I order tea.

And I say " oh course with lemon, why not?"

Ha, why not indeed...

reply to post by kawika


really it's common sense...

Think about this, when you go to the bathroom what do you do first? Go the bathroom right? Then after you go what do you touch? The faucet right? Then after you wash what do you touch? The faucet again to turn it off. So you just contaminated your hands again, then you got paper towels then you opened the door, then you sat at a table if you were a customer, then you touched every thing at that table, etc. If you were a server or a cook you contaminated everything you touched, it is an endless cycle of germs and this is why people get sick.

For the record, I wash my hands before I go to the bathroom and after, then I use the paper towel to turn off the faucet, then if needed I use the paper towel to open the door. I never handle any doors with my hands, I always find a way to not touch it. I don't use silverware at restaurants, I use plastic ware. I ask for plastic cups. I don't get any fruits in my drinks, always on the side if I want them, not only at restaurants but bars too.

The front door!
That thing gets hit with hands all day long and no one ever wipes those down!

I often see waiters/waitresses wipe the crumbs off of the seats with the same cloth as for the table. Then to be extra fancy they set the clean glasses onto the table with the rim down.

More often than that I see them handling the money from the guy with a cold and then plunking straws into the drinks before they're brought to your table.

Seats are bad because everybody's pants are always rubbing up against the toilet when they sit down or getting back spatter when they stand up. Imagine what is on a taxi seat after a weekend of pickups on the bar strip. How many years of puke buildup, toilet seat rubbings, sharts, etc. The transfer rate from vehicle seats to office and lunchroom chairs and then home must be astonishing. I never sit on my bed or near a pillow with my day clothes and I never plant my face down on my sofa for nap without covering it first.

Sorry to bring that all to your awareness. Ignorance is bliss. I've kinda become a self proclaimed expert on techniques for reducing cross-contamination.

reply to post by dainoyfb


I may never leave the house again...