I got this tidbit from Dose Magazine in Calgary, probably not the most reliable source of information.
Meals on trains are notoriously unappetizing but they could also make you sick.
Many kitchens & washrooms on Canadian trains were cited as having “critical hazards” which could potentially make people sick, according to Health Canada inspection documents. However only one train failed Health Canada inspections.
Trains were the worst offenders with 40 of the 48 trains inspected identified as “critical”. For instance a cook onboard one VIA Rail train did not wash his hands before preparing food. Other trains had dirty washrooms. the report also notes several problems with food preparation & storage.
“A large preparation board on top of the refrigerator was not properly maintained & (was) left in unsanitary condition for a considerable amount of time.” the report says of one train. “When it was examined, the both of us felt sick to our stomachs from the stench underneath.”
Has anyone here had such problems when travelling on VIA[?]
Dose Magazine is a Monday to Friday paper - freebie by the way - is geared to the 18 to 34 group. Not the most intelligent read in the world. It can be found in Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa & Toronto.
I worked as a night janitor at a McDonalds back in the late 80’s. Believe me, I swore off eating at McDonalds at that time & never went back. At the time most of the food was pre-cooked before it hit the individual McDonalds. What was done was all the patties, pancakes & so on was nuked in a microwave then served to a unsuspecting paying customer.
Hmmm… Amtrak has had its share of run-ins with[xx(] health authorities over the years, having to do with [:(!][8]cleanliness of food preperation areas. The food on empire corridor trains is awful![xx(] I have yet to have a meal of any sort worthy of praise on any train, anywhere. Beer, on the other hand, is VIA’s saving grace! There was never a better place for a cold Molson Export than the lounge in a Park series Dome-Observation, the Ale is just as good in the dome, BTW![yeah]
[:P]I went into a McD’s to t[dinner], but went to wash my hands first. While in the Men’s room a [C=:-)]came out of a stall and walked right out and into the
kitchen without washing his hands[D)]. I left without ordering… or getting[xx(]
In high school, I worked in a small, family-owned bakery. The rule was, you could eat anything the bakery sold. All the employees ate only chocolate eclairs. They were shipped in from a different bakery, and we all hoped the other bakery was run better than ours.[(-D]
Reminds me of that blurb that makes its way around the Internet occasionally - about how as kids us boomers drank from the hose, played in the dirt, rode our bikes without helmets, etc, etc. Most of us survived, and were risk takers in business as well as life.
If you gave half a thought about half the things you do, you wouldn’t be doing them… Food is little different. Mom’s kitchen wasn’t always the cleanest food preparation facility in town, either.
A friend recently returned from a visit to China[8D] He went to an industrial city (to discuss a job offer) not an area visted by a lot of “westerners”. He said while there he ate every meal at McDonalds. It appeared to be the cleanist place in town.
He is not a fussy eater or particuarly squeamish. He is a naturalized American, originally from a non-Arab middle eastern country, who has visited most of Europe, Aisa, and the Americas, lived in Japan, and even lived for over 10 years in (gasp) Los Angeles[:o)]