The first - on Wednesday I needed some prosciutto to dress up a much loved pasta dish that hubby had requested specially - a Creamy Chicken Pasta with Mushrooms and Bacon. I stopped at the Super IGA in Ashmore briefly before going to pick up Cate from swim training.
I usually love shopping here as they have a very good selection of pre-packaged gluten free goods that are always cheaper than Woolworth's and health food supermarkets such as Mrs Flannery's. In December they had the most awesome little GF Christmas Cakes in the bakery section for around $6. Libby loved them. After Christmas they were reduced to $2 so I bought about about 8 and froze them to use later, cut up in school lunches. Just couldn't go past them at that price...Anyway back to the cold meat...
There was no prepackaged prosciutto left so I headed to the deli to buy the 6 slices I needed. I don't know about you but I am normally a bit distracted after placing my order. I am usually daydreaming about the next item I want to buy and what I'm going to create with it; or checking out the specials, rather than watching what the deli staff are doing in the back.
Because this afternoon I only needed the one thing, I was watching the young girl serving me more closely. She took the delicious looking chuck of prosciutto out of the cabinet and carried it over to the slicer near the back. I looked over at the machine and could not believe the state it was in! The slicer, and bench top underneath it, was covered in a rainbow of different meat shavings. It was like a magic fairy had covered everything with a fresh layer of shaved meat snow, or, maybe like a giant stainless steel meat lovers pizza with the lot. In places it was centimeters thick. It definitely looked like more than a few hours of accumulated meat scraps. Who ever was in charge of the deli that day did not seem to care about cleaning up, let alone minimising the risk of cross-contamination.
I reluctantly took the prosciutto home and used it. It was already close to 6 pm, and I was cooking the dish by request for hubby who was going away for a few days. After getting home, the more I thought about it, I realised I should have been stronger and less afraid to say something to the deli staff or supermarket manager.
My second part-time job at age 15 was working in the deli at a local supermarket. Some items in the deli, such as rolled roast pork or chicken contain stuffing mixtures and we would regularly slice them on the same machine as all the other products. Nobody ever trained me about gluten cross-contaminated at that job. Until I noticed this usually messy meat slicer I just had not occurred to me that this was something I should be watching out for.
To minimise the risk I would suggest shopping early, not long after the store has opened. The slicers are supposed to be correctly sanitised at the end of the previous nights trading. Ask the person serving you to use a fresh set of gloves. If the meat that you want to buy is close by a suspect food item in the display counter, just don't buy it - go for the packet version.
Maybe I'm getting paranoid about this now, but I think I am just going to stick to buying my cold meats such as ham and salami in the pre-packed section where they are clearly labelled Gluten Free. I'm just not willing to take the risk.
Okay, now to story number two - earlier this evening I needed to buy a small amount of chicken breast to make a chicken curry for dinner. I went to the local butcher outside Woolworth's in Southport Park shopping centre. I don't normally shop there but as I only needed one thing, it was easier to buy it there, rather than go in the supermarket and face the pre-dinnertime rush hour. Of course my freezer was full of what I needed, but I had forgotten to it out in time to defrost.
The lady who served me was eating what looked like a chocolate brownie! She put it straight down on the counter, grabbed a plastic bag, picked up the chicken I had ordered with it and proceeded to weigh and wrap it up. I was in a little bit of shock! I had not said anything about her eating the brownie because I had just assumed she would wash her hands and put gloves on before reaching for my chicken. Nope - she just dived right in there...
Again, I should have said something! I stupidly just handed over my money and left, not wanted to cause a scene. I didn't want to make a fuss and I just didn't know what to say in that brief encounter.
My two poodles enjoyed the chicken as I couldn't bear to cook with it, or throw it away either. I regret that I didn't say anything because an opportunity to educate someone about the possible effects of their carelessness was lost. Is it my job to do this, or shouldn't current food safety standards already cover this?
What if the brownie had contained nuts? My daughter's friend has such a severe allergy that she has to carry an EpiPen with her at all times. If her mum had stopped there on the way home to buy chicken, shouldn't she have the right to feel safe about serving it to her daughter for dinner? Why should she suspect that a life threatening allergen would be on something as simple as fresh chicken?
I think the universe is not so subtlety trying to tell me that I need to pay more attention when shopping. I was so diligent when first diagnosed, but have perhaps fallen into a little complacency of late. I have been reminded this week to be ever vigilant. Sadly some people working in these stores are either ignorant or don't care about the serious health consequences these practices expose people at risk to.
I definitely will be contacting these stores about my experiences before deciding whether to buy fresh from their counters again...I'll let you know what they say and I promise to be less chicken myself next time I'm out shopping and I see something that's just not right.
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