Jump to content

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 61
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted
honestly u have to wonder sometimes what goes into the meat at these places.

285640[/snapback]

I had a roommate who was an electrician at a packing plant in Smithfield, VA. Truth be told, you're better off not wondering, there are some pretty nasty things that go on in those places. It's the reason I went from ordering steaks and burgers medium-rare to well-done.

Posted
I had a roommate who was an electrician at a packing plant in Smithfield, VA.  Truth be told, you're better off not wondering, there are some pretty nasty things that go on in those places.  It's the reason I went from ordering steaks and burgers medium-rare to well-done.

285646[/snapback]

 

The same goes for any food plant, not just meats. I was in the snack food industry for 11 years and you would not be eating most of the snack foods you see on the shelves, if you saw what I saw.

Posted

Anyone who has worked in the food business will warn you that you wouldnt want to eat half the stuff you do if you knew what went on behind the scenes included...i worked at a small diner where a customer was in for it if they pissed off one of the cooks...

 

Ahhhh, ignorance is bliss...

Posted
The same goes for any food plant, not just meats. I was in the snack food industry for 11 years and you would not be eating most of the snack foods you see on the shelves, if you saw what I saw.

285651[/snapback]

 

Explain...

Posted
Anyone who has worked in the food business will warn you that you wouldnt want to eat half the stuff you do if you knew what went on behind the scenes included...i worked at a small diner where a customer was in for it if they pissed off one of the cooks...

 

Ahhhh, ignorance is bliss...

285665[/snapback]

 

I would love to catch one in the process :huh: lookout

Posted

How the hell do they explain that? :huh: Maybe they stole "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's" family chili recipe.

Posted
Explain...

285670[/snapback]

 

There are "things" which make it into the dough before, during and after it is mixed. Then you add the "things" that make their way into the product throughout the process. Couple that with the process itself.

 

I will use pretzels for an example. It depends on who is making the product, whether they are using a batch mixing process or a continuous mixer. I will use the batch mixing process as an example. Flour is dumped in automatically from the silos (or holding hoppers above the mixer). Bugs can appear in the flour. Sometimes, they are alive at this point, other times they are dead. The operator of the mixer adds the ingredients by hand. I have seen operators sneeze, wipe their mouths and noses with their hands, and then immediately touch the raw ingredients as they put them in the mixer. I have also seen operators handle rat traps (with rat poison in them) and then touch raw product. After everything is mixed, the dough is emptied onto a conveyor for further processing (about a 600lb batch). Flies have been trapped in the dough as it is exiting the mixer, along with the aforementioned operator using their hands to get the dough out of the mixer.

 

Jump ahead in the process. Flies have been caught in other parts of the process as the pretzels are shaped and are moving through the system. The pretzels are then put through a caustic solution (NaOH or soda ash). This solution is what gives the pretzel the dark exterior while maintaining the white interior. It is also what gives it the crackery texture. Well, plants usually run 24/7, which gives very little time to clean this solution. The solution becomes very dirty and sludgy. Take the skankiest river you know, and imagine your pretzel dipped in it before it is baked.

 

After it goes through this cooking process, the salt is added. You do not even want to know what I have seen in the salt bins. It then goes into the oven, where most of the moisture is removes (down to about 11%). At the back end of the oven, it transfers to the kiln for drying (to the final moisture of about 3-5%). This transfer point contains a LOT of dirt, dust and grit. It also contains stale product and anything else that gets caught.

 

It then transfers into packaging where more stuff can be "added," especially if they are bulk packing.

 

So, anyone want a yummy pretzel?

Posted
There are "things" which make it into the dough before, during and after it is mixed. Then you add the "things" that make their way into the product throughout the process. Couple that with the process itself.

 

I will use pretzels for an example. It depends on who is making the product, whether they are using a batch mixing process or a continuous mixer. I will use the batch mixing process as an example. Flour is dumped in automatically from the silos (or holding hoppers above the mixer). Bugs can appear in the flour. Sometimes, they are alive at this point, other times they are dead. The operator of the mixer adds the ingredients by hand. I have seen operators sneeze, wipe their mouths and noses with their hands, and then immediately touch the raw ingredients as they put them in the mixer. I have also seen operators handle rat traps (with rat poison in them) and then touch raw product. After everything is mixed, the dough is emptied onto a conveyor for further processing (about a 600lb batch). Flies have been trapped in the dough as it is exiting the mixer, along with the aforementioned operator using their hands to get the dough out of the mixer.

 

Jump ahead in the process. Flies have been caught in other parts of the process as the pretzels are shaped and are moving through the system. The pretzels are then put through a caustic solution (NaOH or soda ash). This solution is what gives the pretzel the dark exterior while maintaining the white interior. It is also what gives it the crackery texture. Well, plants usually run 24/7, which gives very little time to clean this solution. The solution becomes very dirty and sludgy. Take the skankiest river you know, and imagine your pretzel dipped in it before it is baked.

 

After it goes through this cooking process, the salt is added. You do not even want to know what I have seen in the salt bins. It then goes into the oven, where most of the moisture is removes (down to about 11%). At the back end of the oven, it transfers to the kiln for drying (to the final moisture of about 3-5%). This transfer point contains a LOT of dirt, dust and grit. It also contains stale product and anything else that gets caught.

 

It then transfers into packaging where more stuff can be "added," especially if they are bulk packing.

 

So, anyone want a yummy pretzel?

285695[/snapback]

 

What you don't know, can't hurt you, but finding a HUMAN FINGER in your food is downright disgusting. I hope that person get's very rich off of this. They deserve it.

Posted

 

So, anyone want a yummy pretzel?

285695[/snapback]

 

Yes. For some reason stuff like this doesn't bother me... so a fly lands in the preztle dough? Protein.

Posted
Yes. For some reason stuff like this doesn't bother me... so a fly lands in the preztle dough? Protein.

285703[/snapback]

 

What about snot and rat poison? How about it being covered in sludge?

 

Really, it doesn't bother me either. After this amount of time seeing this stuff, I just kinda shrug it off.

Posted
What about snot and rat poison? How about it being covered in sludge?

 

Really, it doesn't bother me either. After this amount of time seeing this stuff, I just kinda shrug it off.

285716[/snapback]

 

Rat Poison? Well, I've been eating pretzles my whole life, and I'm OK, so since it's not "gross", I'm sure Im fine.

 

Snot? Well, honestly (and this is pretty messed up, but) if we never ate anything that might have ever had snot on it, we wouldn't ever eat. Think about it, you go to even the nicest restaurant, whose to say the chef didnt sneeze on the way back from the bathroom? I mean, there's hundreds of examples, but I just choose to not think about it, and instead think about the deliciousness of food.

×
×
  • Create New...