Buffets, Costco’s free samples fall victim
Communal food in all its guises — from Costco’s free samples to workplace snack tables and all-you-can-eat buffets — is coming under scrutiny as coronavirus continues to spread.
Costco has suspended product demonstrations indefinitely at some of its stores around the world, including China and the U.S., according to Business Insider. As one Redditor pointed out in their plea for the company to stop serving samples last week, “Eating samples from the same tray and then we put the food in our mouths and lick our fingers/wipe our mouths and go on to the next sample tray ... Everyone is at Costco right now ... This is how stuff travels fast.”
While there have been reports of Canadian outlets devoid of complimentary morsels since the interruption was first brought to light on March 5, neither Costco Canada nor Club Demonstration Services, which provides instore food sampling for the company, responded to the National Post’s request for comment.
Following a Chinese campaign spearheaded by state media and restaurant groups, encouraging people to use separate serving utensils to portion shared dishes, Scottish health authorities have issued a so-called “buffet ban.” Recently issued guidelines caution against sharing food unless it’s individually wrapped, and as The Times reports, are aimed at workplaces, hotels and restaurants in an effort to contain COVID-19.
At the best of times, buffets “can be a cesspool for bacteria and viruses,” Allison Agwu, professor of pediatric and adult infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Vice in 2018. Just last month, norovirus sickened 300 people on board the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, forcing it to head back to port in Florida. The highly contagious stomach virus notoriously lingers in unsanitary food buffet stations, as do bacteria E. coli and salmonella.
While staff are responsible for keeping buffet offerings out of the danger zone — the ideal temperature at which food-borne bacteria can multiply — providing suitable serving utensils, and otherwise monitoring stations for cleanliness, according to the Canadian Institute of Food Safety, the greatest risk is posed by the buffet-goers themselves.
As such, the educational institution recommends displaying signs reminding guests to use tongs instead of their fingers, and clean plates when they make return trips.
Medical authorities haven’t identified food or food packaging as a mechanism for the spread of COVID-19. And although they recommend against sharing food during the pandemic — “risks cannot be ruled out” — they’re stopping short of suggesting people stay away from restaurants in general.
National Post