Filthy Food Hygiene Habits of some Thais and lack of supervision at Makro Chaweng

[oldsailor35]

Shopping at Makro Chaweng yesterday i was about to purchase Chicken Breasts, but there was a man in his 40's into the bin with his bare hands almost up to his elbows hooking pieces aside and selecting whatever he thought best, I indicated to him to put a plastic bag over his hand, but he did not seem to understand, he then wiped his hand on his filthy trousers and proceeded to 'hook' around in the thigh piece bin with the same vigor eventually moving to the belly pork followed by the prawn bin, once again wiping his hand on the same filthy trousers. It is about time that Macro management did something about these unhygienic customers who are dragging their attempts at civilised shopping back to the standards of the Lam Din market. People should be able to shop for meat etc in more modern day conditions. Incidentally , when the guy saw me shaking my head and holding up a hand covered with a plastic bag, he started yelling at me as loud as he could. Management should, in the interest of its customers put large signs telling people such as this one that the handling of raw food with bare hands is forbidden.

Do not tell me to "get used to it" i have been here 10 years and will never get used to such filthy habits.

[nowretired]

Will you be shopping elsewhere now ?

[MrBrilliant]

Don't they have tongs or assistants?

I don't see how management can prevent unhygienic loonies visiting their stores though....

[evadgib]

The service there is generally good but I too have seen people pole-vaulting up their own nostrils & immediately rummaging in the communal meat trays!

[xen]

Look on the bright side - you saw him do it so you know to avoid that bin. Five minutes later you would be blissfully unaware . Just imagine what other delightful hygiene practices happen in most food processing places, markets and street food stalls.

[oldsailor35]

I will continue to shop here, but will just hang around until a fresh batch of whatever is turned out, then be first in. Guess it all depends on management to educate these filthy bastards bringing standards down to 3rd world Asia. Judging by the amount of his purchases i think that that guy must have some kind of a catering business. YUK !.

[oldsailor35]

Don't they have tongs or assistants?

I don't see how management can prevent unhygienic loonies visiting their stores though....

Assistants do wear gloves, but no attention is paid to the customers filthy habits. I guess management reckon that they have done their bit thank you !

Maybe MAKRO need to give their managers some hygiene training.

[NickJ]

Try the Makro in Rayong....They have pretty much reverted back to the old days. The meat bins are cracked with insulation exposed. Vast pools of blood water with semi frozen hunks of meat submerged. The smells cause the retch reflex to kick in. Shopping carts parked next to bins with blood dripping onto the floor...........I buy from Tesco and Big C now........

[Rooo]

My wife sent a letter to head office about another problem a while ago & they did respond & addressed the problem. Might be worth just sending an Email & see what happens.

And please do share the response.

[evadgib]

On a more positive note I like to watch the fishmonger dressing the Salmon in full view of the public. I am used to preparing fish and game for the table in field conditions but to see him doing it in such a professional manner in full view makes the monotony of waiting for 'er indoors just a little more interesting

[JMWPACIFIC]

If I were you, I'd buy pre-packaged meats at Big C and hope the person who packed it had washed his/her hands.

[oldsailor35]

Makro Chaweng is ok, just have to be there when the goods are freshly binned, which is what i do now.

[oldsailor35]

My wife sent a letter to head office about another problem a while ago & they did respond & addressed the problem. Might be worth just sending an Email & see what happens.

And please do share the response.

jimmy would'nt know how to cook a sausage ! lololol

[samuijimmy]

Ha ha old boy! I can cook bangers as well as you!

But I too have seen people doing the same thing in Makro I don't shop there often...

But Big C for months meat department is enough to make one gag just walking though it... I've complained to the Public relations guy who wanders around the store, about it several times, his response has always been management will not do anything about it.... Although to give credit, the last time I was in there it was smelling like a "rose"...

Tesco Chawang is usually OK...

Then there is Tops, who make constant announcements that they follow world health standards.... I watched the guy slicing my ham, with no gloves, I then refused it!

[TheLobster]

Try Makro Lamai, newer and seems to be better organised

[oldsailor35]

Try Makro Lamai, newer and seems to be better organised

I did ! and what a pleasant surprise, everything is so bright, clean and well presented, makes Makro Chaweng look so old tatty , dirty and shabby.

However i did notice that they now have new notices telling customers not to use bare hands, but gloves etc supplied. So it appears that someone in Makro management reads TV .

[carmine]

Amazing that people actually have to be told not to use bare hands!

[carmine]

Try Makro Lamai, newer and seems to be better organised

I did ! and what a pleasant surprise, everything is so bright, clean and well presented, makes Makro Chaweng look so old tatty , dirty and shabby.

However i did notice that they now have new notices telling customers not to use bare hands, but gloves etc supplied. So it appears that someone in Makro management reads TV .

Might this be because its under foreign management? I say this because the Makro in chained used to be managed by an English guy and its never been anything like as good since he moved on.

[evadgib]

Try Makro Lamai, newer and seems to be better organised

I did ! and what a pleasant surprise, everything is so bright, clean and well presented, makes Makro Chaweng look so old tatty , dirty and shabby.

However i did notice that they now have new notices telling customers not to use bare hands, but gloves etc supplied. So it appears that someone in Makro management reads TV .

In a classic act of over zealousness I was given the 'naughty schoolboy' by a beige-clad whistle mechanic for entering Makro Chaweng with an open bottle of water to keep myself hydrated last week, something I have done since they opened. I later observed several new signs on the door inc one depicting a burger & coffee cup (ie ' no food or beverages' ). I had to leave the bottle at the counter & return like Oliver Twist each time I wanted a swig. Wifey assures me there is a water dispencer somewhere near the office but I have never seen it. It needs to be at the other end where the heat is & what for most will be their halfway point re shopping/time.

If Makro are reading this I hope it results in the application of common sence.

[GarryP]

Try Makro Lamai, newer and seems to be better organised

I did ! and what a pleasant surprise, everything is so bright, clean and well presented, makes Makro Chaweng look so old tatty , dirty and shabby.

However i did notice that they now have new notices telling customers not to use bare hands, but gloves etc supplied. So it appears that someone in Makro management reads TV .

Might this be because its under foreign management? I say this because the Makro in chained used to be managed by an English guy and its never been anything like as good since he moved on.

Makro was taken over by CP.

[balo]

Does it matter as long as the meat is properly fried or boiled ? If you worry about hygiene Thailand is not the right place to live in.

[TheLobster]

Does it matter as long as the meat is properly fried or boiled ? If you worry about hygiene Thailand is not the right place to live in.

Probably not, I guess most people will wash the meat before cooking which will assist in removing whatever was on these hands and the hairs that they left behind. Seems like you are an expert in food hygiene?

[manarak]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

[balo]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

Really 120 C ? Ok just give it a good roast , when the color is black it's safe to eat.

But jokes aside, I buy my meat wrapped up in plastic,probably more safe than Makro.

[TheLobster]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobe and so is most commonly a risk in canning not with fresh products.

[Aussieroaming]

My wife was in a shop in Lima last week and she came home and told me much the same story as the OP about a Farang. Amazing how people lack tolerance.

[smokie36]

I peed in a swimming pool once...just out of sheer laziness.

[manarak]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobe and so is most commonly a risk in canning not with fresh products.

Well, all that is known about the meat bits is that they apparently were in an unfrozen state.

Would you really bet your health/life on assuming the meat was fresh and not unfrozen and/or taken out of vacuum bags?

Sometimes I shop for frozen steaks at makro, and sometimes I find steaks which were just delivered. The bags are soft.

Also, other frozen steaks aren't straight and flat anymore, but changed their form before freezing again due to the bag getting unfrozen and then refrozen.

Let's just pray the contents ahven't been contaminated before being packaged, because then it's a recipe for mass poisoning.

[TheLobster]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobe and so is most commonly a risk in canning not with fresh products.

Well, all that is known about the meat bits is that they apparently were in an unfrozen state.

Would you really bet your health/life on assuming the meat was fresh and not unfrozen and/or taken out of vacuum bags?

Sometimes I shop for frozen steaks at makro, and sometimes I find steaks which were just delivered. The bags are soft.

Also, other frozen steaks aren't straight and flat anymore, but changed their form before freezing again due to the bag getting unfrozen and then refrozen.

Let's just pray the contents ahven't been contaminated before being packaged, because then it's a recipe for mass poisoning.

What happened to Clostridium botulinum being the problem?

So the bags are soft, so what temperature were they given the contents were mostly frozen?

If the contents were taken out of a frozen vacuum packed bag I wouldn't be worried.

I don't buy packs that look they have defrosted and look like they have been refrozen although the risk is probably minimal.

Don't bother posting again regarding Food Safety, please.

[manarak]

filthy.

the guy should have been ordered to use a bag or be removed by store security

for those who wonder whether cooing will kill bacteria:

stapphs and e.coli are killed at around 75°C, but the more serious germ, the Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism (a rare bacterial infection with high 30% lethality), is only killed when temperatures above 120 °C are sustained for at least 30 minutes.

Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobe and so is most commonly a risk in canning not with fresh products.

Well, all that is known about the meat bits is that they apparently were in an unfrozen state.

Would you really bet your health/life on assuming the meat was fresh and not unfrozen and/or taken out of vacuum bags?

Sometimes I shop for frozen steaks at makro, and sometimes I find steaks which were just delivered. The bags are soft.

Also, other frozen steaks aren't straight and flat anymore, but changed their form before freezing again due to the bag getting unfrozen and then refrozen.

Let's just pray the contents ahven't been contaminated before being packaged, because then it's a recipe for mass poisoning.

What happened to Clostridium botulinum being the problem?

So the bags are soft, so what temperature were they given the contents were mostly frozen?

If the contents were taken out of a frozen vacuum packed bag I wouldn't be worried.

I don't buy packs that look they have defrosted and look like they have been refrozen although the risk is probably minimal.

Don't bother posting again regarding Food Safety, please.

Okay... what makes you an expert?