Food Vendors Caught Picking Noses, Touching Toes

You'll probably want to avoid eating dinner during tomorrow night's episode of Inside Edition, which promises some pretty revolting video of street vendors doing all sorts of unsavory things with their hands while on the job. According to the press release, the show's "Investigative Unit" caught a number of New York food vendors on tape exhibiting some "unsafe food handling practices." These include:

One food vendor touching his bare feet with his fingers between his toes before going right back to serving customers.
Another vendor near Times Square, who while wearing gloves picked his nose, handled money, scratched himself and touched raw chicken right before preparing food and serving customers.
A vendor outside the Museum of Natural History who licked his gloved hand and counted money. Then he left his cart to use a bathroom in the museum and returned to serve customers without washing his hands.

Yum! And that's not all; Inside Edition also tested the temperatures of food from other vendors and many carts serving food in the "temperature danger zone." Lisa Berger, a Food Safety Expert, tells Inside Edition that "food in the danger zone, between 41 and 140, is considered dangerous…Anything in between those two numbers, bacteria will begin to grow." Well, they don't call them dirty water dogs for no reason.

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By John Del Signore in Food on September 8, 2008 3:19 PM

Comments [rss]

dagblad

Hey come on, it builds up the immune system!

ANGRYGOD11

#21

That's the exception that proves the rule. That Taco Bell dump didn't follow corporate nor NYC regulations. As long as real food is being made by humans, there remains the risk of contamination. Processed food is statistically safer.

NannyState

Make your own street vendor food...at home.

jibbly

Yeah, but street eats in much of the rest of the world is so much tastier!

emilydickinson

I'm glad 70% of Americans die without ever getting a passport, because street carts in NYC look like La Cirque compared to street food in the rest of the world.

sinisterteashop

#20... sorry to burst your bubble:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40qihGbngJg

ANGRYGOD11

Sad fact is major fast food chains are the cleanest places to eat. The glop is prepared and sealed elsewhere. The local staff usually has good equipment on hand to prep and serve it up.

But, I wouldn't want to eat there.

Spirit of 76

I have a friend who used to work at a restaurant who picked his pubes and places them in food of the people who were rude to him when they ordered.

You need to get new friends.

Kojak

I agree. Keeping your kids sanitized will ensure that they will have a miserable time when they get older.

When I was little I went to school regardless of the fact that I had chicken pox and exposed EVERYBODY. My teachers sent me home after the third day when they suspected something amiss. As a result of my heroic actions, three people (Including two girls I didn't like), caught the pox

I'm doing my part!

Rocknrope

You know why 25% of kids born in the US today have peanut allergies? Because we're all too damn clean and our immune systems are looking for thing to defend against. IMO, A little bacteria here and there is good for us.

babyhitler

They are doing you a favor. You need your immune system tested sometimes. This is just how New Yorkers get stomaches of steel.

sharpshoota

Yeah there are sick fuhqs everywhere. I knew a dude whoe worked at a TCBY yogurt that used to put his boogers in the walnut topping. Unless you make it yourself...you never know. Sad but true.

books

millions of people eat from then and dont get sick..you know why? Cause cleanliness doesnt matter...filth is everywhere...if you thought about what touched the food you ate before you ate, we'd all be sick.

slyseekr

Paul Giammatti is a street vendor?

Brado

Poor people are gross.

Gothamist_Cynic

No wonder I always get sick eating street meat.

falafelgal

I agree with sinisterteashop and grove - it's pretty easy to tell which carts are unsanitary, and we all know from the number of restaurants DOH'd that this issue is in no way limited to street carts. Read Kitchen Confidential or Heat, and if you really want to feel sick, look up all the restaurants you've eaten at in the past month on the NYC Department of Health website. NYC's fantastic street food is one of the main reasons I will never leave the city. Don't dump on all vendors (many are absolutely amazing and I'll bet their carts are more clean than your kitchen) because there are a few who run unsanitary carts.

Kojak

I have a friend who used to work at a restaurant who picked his pubes and places them in food of the people who were rude to him when they ordered.

Let this be a lesson to you all to treat your waiter with respect . . . or else.

grove

i have some of the best food from carts! its easy to spot out the ones which should be avoided.

takethecanoli

In other news, the sky is blue.

The only thing I'd buy off a cart is a pretzel.

littlepinkknife

They don't call them "dirty dogs" at all. They call them "dirty water-dogs" and that's only the boiled hotdogs!

TK

hopefully they arent smokers too, that shit's disgusting!

ides_of_march

"Get rid of street venders because they pick their noses."

Won't be any need to get rid of them if enough people wise up and stop taking the risk of buying from these bacteria merchants.

sinisterteashop

Okay, could we please stop the poor people are unsanitary campaign going on here. Remove the seats on the subway because rides put their feet on them. Get rid of street venders because they pick their noses. And workers in the kitchens of Momofuku, Shake Shack and Babbo don't pick their noses? Puh-lease.

rdsizzle

Thats really surprising. The NYC street vendors always gave me that warm and cozy feeling when it comes to sanitation. This is a real shocker!