One of my favorite sayings is that once you know you can’t unknow. It’s true of anything meaningful in life that’s new information to you. It’s true of the story of germs, bacteria and food preparation. It might as well have been yesterday that I saw what most surfaces, even in restaurants, or should I say especially in restaurants, look like under a black light. There’s a reason I don’t do salad bars, try to avoid buffets generally and never go for the fountain drink. It’s similar but different to the reason I don’t send the food back at the restaurant if it’s not right. I’m not trying to gross you out, it’s just about once you know you can’t unknow. There’s one other semi-quirk of mine I’ve not discussed before. Food delivery services.
Based on the aforementioned principle, the last time I had food delivered to me was 1997. But even I, as quirky and cautious as I am, wouldn’t have suspected the food delivery contamination was as bad as it evidently is. Recently it made news when a food delivery driver was caught on camera working on a milkshake that was about to be delivered. Gross yes, uncommon, apparently not. How often do you think delivery drivers might snack on your order? Would you believe more than a quarter of the time?
US Foods just conducted research on food delivery drivers across the country. Turns out 28% have/will consume some of a customer’s order. The most common reason was that it smelled good. If you’ve ever wondered if your order has been tampered with, the answer is probably yes. File this away as another piece of information that once you know you can’t unknow. I guess you can still run with the idea that even if there’s a greater than 1 in 4 chance your driver will eat delivery food, it might not be your food specifically. Something tells me there’s going to be a huge market coming for tamper-proof food containers in the very near future. The first person who invents a cost-efficient model for the pizza industry stands to be a big winner.
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