The co-owner of a Canadian restaurant was caught on video stirring sauce with his bare hands, picking up dirty dishes off the floor (and using them), and committing a variety of other health code violations.
As CBC News reports , employees and the manager of a Red Deer, Alberta, Carl’s Jr. were getting nowhere with restaurant co-owner Jack Webb. Whenever they would try to remind him that what he was doing – for example, stirring barbecue sauce with his bare hands – was against the health code, he would get mad and remind them that he was the boss and could do as he pleased.
“I’m the owner. Too bad. Don’t talk about what I’m doing, I do what I feel like doing.”
Manager Andrew Minnes tried to get the other owner to intercede, but he also responded with a shrug and a “not my problem.”
So Minnes took on the role of sleuth. Using a mobile device, he recorded the screens of the restaurant’s security cameras, showing Webb at his worst.
What he captured was so unsanitary that even a health inspector was “shocked.”
- In one video, Webb was seen stirring barbecue sauce with his bare hands, forearm-deep in the pot. When he removed his hands from the pot of sauce, he scraped the excess sauce off of his forearms and back into the pot. An employee can be seen offering Webb a spoon, and Webb shrugs him off.
- In another video, Webb used a spatula, albeit one that he grabbed from a pile of dirty dishes. To be fair, he did wipe it off with a towel.
- Another video shows Webb picking up a chicken tender off of the floor, then putting it back on the warming tray to be served to customers.
- Webb was also caught on video picking up a fry scoop from the floor and continuing to use it to scoop fries.
Failing to get results from anyone else in charge, Minnes took the undercover video to Canadian health officials.
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Authorities notched up at least ten health code violations. Most distressing, say authorities, was the way Webb handled raw chicken. Specifically, Webb dipped a piece of chicken into batter and then dropped it into a fryer without washing his hands first. The result was a mess of batter all over the fryer; a situation that could have resulted in cross-contamination.
“There’s potential for cross-contamination — you’re going to make someone sick.”
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After an investigation, authorities banned Webb – whom they describe as contrite and apologetic – from the kitchens of the restaurant he owns. He can go back into the kitchen once he’s completed Alberta’s food safety course.
In a statement, Carl’s Jr. apologized for the franchise owner’s behavior.
“[Webb’s actions] in no way represent Carl’s Jr.’s commitment to safe food handling.”
Minnes, for his part, is no longer employed by Webb’s franchise, although their parting of ways has nothing to do with Webb’s food handling. Meanwhile, he says he never set out to be a whistleblower, but he’s not sorry for what he did, either.
[Featured Image by SIphotography/Thinkstock]
