Thursday, March 6, 2008

Hygiene In Supermarkets

We refer to the practice of charities packing groceries at supermarkets checkouts in return for a donation from the customer.It is, we understand, a very good way for them to raise funds.

But we would like to draw attention to two issues surrounding this practice:

1 It is a bit forward and rude of these people to assume without asking that someone wants them to pack their shopping. Surely they should have the manners to ask without grabbing groceries the minute the come though the checkout.

2 Possibly more important is the hygiene aspect of this. We once observed a woman who was on a packing team picking her nose. She turned around and wiped her hand in her clothing and then went back to packing groceries. So we left the queue. We would assume that the actual staff in the supermarket have some basic hygiene standards to adhere to. The question is if the people packing groceries adhere to these same standards. Shoppers do not know the personal hygiene habits of these folk and whether they have any illness. For all is known they could have MRSA and they are on a supermarket checkout handling food. If MRSA cannot be kept out of hospitals then how can it be kept out of the supermarket?

We wonder if this in any way comes under the Health and Safety Act and/or the Environmental Health Officer. Perhaps we will investigate.

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