On Tuesday night, Dunedin man Simon Harrison posted a photo on social media of the shoeless cook, taken while he was waiting for his order at South Dunedin’s Pizza Hut.
There were ‘‘clear health and safety issues’’, Mr Harrison said.
Some commentors urged people to not go to the store and posted vomiting icons.
Others did not see a problem with the situation.
A Restaurant Brands spokesman said it had addressed the isolated incident with the franchisee and would take ‘‘appropriate action’’ to ensure it did not happen again.
The company did not specify what this action was.
‘‘Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Restaurant Brands has very strict policies in place that prioritise the health and safety of our customers and staff.’’
In February last year, three staff of Dunedin’s two Pizza Hut stores resigned over alleged hygiene issues.
They said the local franchise owner allegedly served expired food which had been thrown in a skip, extended expiry dates of chicken and seafood, and refused to fix a broken mixer which leaked engine oil into dough.
Several claims were supported by photographs.
A Ministry for Primary Industries investigation identified several concerns with hygiene and food practices, but found no evidence of expiry date tampering.
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Comments
Does he use his feet to cook? NO. Wouls his shoes be cleaner than his feet? More an issue for him than the public.
The cook's health and safety is at risk perhaps, but how can the customer be at risk if he's not wearing shoes? I've never worked in a restaurant but I'm fairly sure your feet aren't supposed to come into contact with food or food preparing surfaces whether they are wearing shoes or not.
People will look for fault at every turn. I hardly see how it is a public health issue. And I hope you asked permission to take the picture and paste it over social media. World is so full of petty 'hallway monitors' taking sneaky pictures. The issue is squarely for his manager to deal with, NOT the public crucifying machine.
Still haven't been to any Dunedin Pizza Hut stores since the last incident, mentioned in this article. Have told Restaurant Brands about this, but they show no interest in replacing the franchisee with someone who does their job better. So we'll continue to boycott, as will a number of people we know. Plenty of other Pizza places in town.
Not a chef but have common dog (Vatunasa and DanF) Health and safety comes to mind, no he doesn't use his feet to prep pizza's. Places have standards if he can't be bothered to dress correctly what else can he not be bothered to do, wash his hand after doing number 2's. not wearing gloves and then handling cash. Not washing the trays because they look fine, or the 4 day old chicken looks ok to me I'll chance it and get away with it. If he drops a knife, then there is more chance of losing a toe than if he was wearing leather shoes.
That is all assumption Rtn2Dun, this bloke could well be hygenic in every other way. When we eat out we are at the mercy of anyone who comes into contact with our food. Even our cereals, flour and grains contain a percentage of mice, rat and bird dander! When people breath, their moist exhaled vapor droplets go all over our food. Dandruff falls in, wee mites from you eye brows....in they go, skin flakes, you name it....in it all goes, let alone the coughs and sneezes! Enjoy your meal, welcome to the realities of life!!
Buzz yes an assumption, he has been busted in his relaxed attitude towards hygiene, no excuse at all, no slap hazard attitude like shown in the pic, I've worked on ships, visited the galley for work and would never step foot in the galley other than the entrance to get the chef's attention always following there strict hygiene standards, yes your statement is correct but mitigation and he hasn't done that.