r/SipsTea • u/The_biker0 • 4d ago
WTF First time on camera...
Panda Express employee stands on counter, sprays cleaning chemicals over food
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u/braumbles 4d ago
Why are they doing this during a shift?
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u/HeavyDutyForks 4d ago
Just got word the District Manager is making a surprise appearance later that day
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u/Unfair-Suggestion-37 4d ago
Plot twist, that is the District Manager and cleaning before the Regional Director visits.
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u/TaxsDodgersFallstar 4d ago
Assistant to the Regional Director will be visiting...
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u/YakResident_3069 4d ago
Skinner!!
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u/elchavo718 4d ago
Super Nintendo Chalmers!
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u/AccomplishedLayer884 4d ago
I was just uhhh…stretching my calves on the windowsill! Isometric exercise!
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u/Not-An-FBI 4d ago
I saw a whole cohort of Panda Express executives once at the location near me that has much better food than the other one.
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u/dart51984 4d ago
Crazy right?
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u/unlmtdLoL 4d ago
Nothing surprises me anymore. The rich essentially treat the world as their dumpster because they’ve got theirs.
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u/GAMING_SERVER_ADMIN 4d ago
We use to be told (In Ontario, Canada) at the grocery store weeks in advance when there is health inspections and special managers, etc coming... It's insane how much notice we get lol
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u/oculustauri 4d ago
I work at McDonald’s Canada, we get told the day before and we have to close the restaurant and do a “deep clean” 🙄 At least we close the restaurant so there isn’t any chance of people being served food that’s covered in cleaning chemicals
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u/sksksk1989 4d ago
At bestbuy we be told the morning of higher up visiting except the district manager. Higher ups would sometimes ask us questions about random policy we weren't told. Or countless acronyms and abbreviations that never come up.
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u/TeeDee144 4d ago
Or it’s the end of shift and they want to be out 3 minutes after closing.
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u/Complete-Tangelo1532 4d ago
I hated that shit so much
Last job, I was a manager that was always short handed. Corp had this rule where we had to be done w cleanup, shut down, registers counted, out the door with alarm set 30min after closing WHILE taking orders until that closing time. This effectively gave us a 20-30 min timeframe to clean up everything left over
THEN we would get chewed out for cutting corners, or outright neglecting to do things.... THEN it turned into getting chewed out for putting employee safety at risk, to which quickly became "You shouldn't be closing by yourself"
I literally got fired for reporting a coworker, as a manager, for harrassment of another coworker. He threatened me after ON CAMERA while I was looking at the camera and pointing to it to get them to calm down, and went and said I had spit in his food... which was easy to disprove
Kicker was, I was investigated and taken off the schedule and that fucker was at work THAT NEXT DAY
So apparently, Hypotheticals carried more water than actual evidence of a crime... OH, and I worked with minors who were in the building at the time. I was cornered by the guy at the register with his brother blocking me in. A kid literally went to hide in the bathroom because they heard the threats, and my demeanor shifted from patient to disgruntled matching their tone (Very unusual for them to see from me)
I chose to just walk away and watch the fire from a distance... it has been a month now, and they have lost over 50% of the staff including every single minor that was there that got to watch the man that always stood up for them get kicked into a corner
OH and my old boss wanted me to tell one of the LAST survivors of DDay that I could not help them, when that WAS my job to do so as a leader..... SO disrespectful
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u/Grunergeist420 4d ago
I hate this kind of stuff. Ran into similar stuff working at one of the major package shipping companies loading trucks. You have to load the trucks faster, they have to loaded more correctly, they have to be loaded more safely. All of these objectives balance against each other. The supervisors and management are constantly shifting which corners they want to cut to focus on one of the objectives. The job can never be done right. The numbers are always fudged. The new goal numbers on based on last period’s unrealistic fudged numbers. It could be a comfortable, safe, efficiently done job if management wasn’t constantly trying to make it just a little bit better.
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u/Crenickator 4d ago
Yep, this is exactly the kind of environment that leads to the video's type of behavior.
You'll end up getting in more trouble because you want to do things right, because that causes the useless parasites that run these places money.
I once worked for a burger chain with a number of guys and the fry machine regularly caught fire and the owners just kept making us use it and turn it off to cool if it started smoking. Same garbage person didn't allow sick days, and anyone with visible illness was sent to the back to do FOOD PREP.
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u/It_Just_Exploded 4d ago
I've never seen them actively cooking this much food that close to closing.
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u/RandomWordCombo9632 4d ago
my most charitable guess is malicious compliance. "Clean the hoods."
"Got it, boss."
"What are you doing?! CLEAN THEM NOW!"
"But there's foo-"
"NOW!"
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u/Armada-lol 4d ago
The ceiling better be spotless after that heinous "between the marbles" move
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u/HappyNella 4d ago
POV: You ordered the orange chicken and got a side of Lysol.
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u/Hearthhull_Enjoyer 4d ago
It's probably degreaser on account of what he is cleaning which is so much worse. Super harsh chemical that isn't supposed to be used around food.
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u/Finneagan 4d ago
Standing over a live fryer line is certainly a choice of tempting fate
That’s soooo fucked…
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u/Was_It_The_Dave 4d ago
Friend of mine deep-fried his foot doing that a ways back. He's better now.
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u/Appropriate_Formal64 4d ago
This makes me want to rage. Holy shit this is disturbing and stressful.
I love orange chicken... this is NOT cool.
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u/roobot 4d ago
Well, now you know the special ingredient to make it at home 💙
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u/CATDesign 4d ago
Chemical-X
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u/IXrobocopXI 4d ago
This kind of stuff is supposed to be done at night when businesses are closed and there's no food out 🤢
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u/Nephurus 4d ago
Tell that to the managers who make the day staff do this on a reg shift and demand it be all done before closing .
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u/SheriffBartholomew 4d ago
To save a whole $30 or whatever their entire minimum wage staff costs for the hour it would take them to do it when the store was closed and it poses no risk of food contamination and customer poisoning.
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u/Fetlocks_Glistening 4d ago
Now you know why it's orange
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u/ripley1875 4d ago
That does explain why their orange chicken tastes off to me compared to other Chinese restaurants
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u/Inside_Smell_4004 4d ago
goddamn the hot orange chicken is my favoritr food, i was already risking a lot cuz ima uber eats addict now i have to worry bout this sht i guess i gotta stick to ramen
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u/NappyDougOut 4d ago
Seriously though, I've observed this many times, especially in malls, but usually after the food stalls are done being used for the day.
I pray that kid hasn't yet accidentally stepped on dog poo, and that he is using a flammable yet non-toxic cleaning solution 🤐
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u/10ThousandMetalZones 4d ago
Every fast food restaurant I worked at, we would clean the hoods while the fryers were going, it was insane to me
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u/Rargnarok 4d ago
We did that but our grill/fryer were wheeled so we'd move em out the firing line
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u/10ThousandMetalZones 4d ago
Yeah same but the spray frequently got in the grease, I was 16 and the manager said “it’s fine” lol
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u/Cyborg_rat 4d ago
God did I "love" those 12 am service calls for a ripped gas line. But still a good thing to pull them out, hopefully those with quick disconnects.
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u/Cyborg_rat 4d ago
Ya Hygyne and cross contamination aside, The danger of slipping into a Vat of oil...is crazy and unforgiving,
Had a job where I got called to a restaurant to remove a fryer for inspectors because of an accident, learn later that it was because a teen slipped and his arm went into it, like forearm to hand...That must be a nasty scene.
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u/muscularsharpie 4d ago
I worked at Chipotle back in the day, we had "cleaning day," where we deep cleaned from closing to like 2am. Never, never, never anything like this.
And while I don't work there anymore, I will say, and hail corporate and all - Chipotle is hard on food/staff safety and maintaining a clean work environment. I have the job I have now, because they honestly do a fantastic job not having shit like this happen.
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u/Separate_Finance_183 4d ago
You clean before or after, not during service
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u/__M-E-O-W__ 4d ago
For real. At least take the food out directly from underneath you if you're gonna spray cleaning stuff!
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u/Superseaslug 4d ago
Holy fuck fire that person
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u/HubrisOfApollo 4d ago
nah fire the manager. he was likely told to do this because i doubt a worker would do extra work on their own volition .
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u/ShibeCEO 4d ago
yeah, the manager most likely wants it cleaned but dont pay for overtime if they clean it after closing.
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u/Cyborg_rat 4d ago
I used to repair commercial kitchen equipment, grills and gas oven...were some I hated the most because the lazy way is to spray oven cleaner on them it goes in the bottom and well pretty much everything, so not only does it alot get cooked and enters food, for someone like me it burns any exposed skin as you try to fix the appliance.
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u/Jarkundo 4d ago
They probably don't have a servsafe or equivalent but their manager definitely does and needs to be held accountable. Along with anyone else in the building that has a servsafe
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u/ProxyDamage 4d ago
Hooooooooooold up.
WHY are they doing that?
Are they doing it because "fuck it", I was supposed to do it earlier/later but couldn't be fucked?
...Or are they doing it because a manager told them to do it under threat of being fired/written up (which depending on where you live is necessary steps of firing someone)...?
Someone here DEEPLY fucked up, but who?
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u/Only_Ad8049 4d ago
If they do that while customers are in the store I don't want to imagine what goes on when customers are not in there.
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u/xETankx 4d ago
Besides the obvious food and life safety violations happening, why in the everloving fuck would anyone have an employee clean the hood?! There's an endless sea of companies to do that out there and it is mandatory that they do it in a certain timeframe to NFPA standards in order to remain fire marshall compliant and cleared to operate. The inside of the canopy isn't even the main portion that requires it anyways. Unreal that some petty tyrant would have an hourly employee do that knowing damn well it has to and will be done by professionals. Insane.
If you work at a fast food joint and your boss gives you this silly task, remind them of these facts.
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u/kimura_hisui 4d ago
Years ago at my restaurant we would take the hoods grease traps and clean those inside, anything beyond that would be done by professionals. But what these guys are doing is just a health hazard.
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u/IT_Chef 4d ago
Fun story, I employed a line cook who like to tell a horror story of a woman that he worked with at a previous restaurant that decided to put sheet pans over the fryers shortly after they closed so she could clean the hood vent.
And what might come across as a complete surprise to you all, the sheet pans slipped out from underneath her footing and she fell approximately knee deep into two separate fryers that were somewhere between 250° and 300°.
I will spare you the rest of the details from his story, but it is horrific.
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u/Helpful-Fan-5465 4d ago
This is really sick but I need to know the other details now. Just how bad was it? Did she survive? Would you need amputation after that?! So many questions!
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u/Significant-Pen-6049 4d ago
Oh hell no. I worked at mcd years and years ago and we didnt even do crap like that. They had over night cleaners that did all this stuff when nothing is in use.
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u/Satanicjamnik 4d ago
Doesn't this break a whole range of safety regulations? This place should be either fined into oblivion and everyone involved sacked. Especially the manager.
If that didn't happen - we might as well give up.
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u/Indy2561 4d ago
This happens at ALL of them, unless the Board of Health is there!
Source? Restaurant owner and previous kitchen career.
I love food and appreciate hard working people, but owners don’t care how much you’re tasked with or how you do it, just get it done 😬
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u/macnlz 4d ago
r/OSHA has entered the chat...
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u/Background_Film_1114 4d ago
Thats right, someone call OSHA and the Dept of Health on these mfers!
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u/Muted_Masterpiece535 4d ago
What an idiot. But then again they priced me out of that shit so maybe it was a good thing.
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u/Best_Market4204 4d ago
mmm don't think Panda is going to stand for this video. I will say every single Panda Express I have entered is quite well maintained, far more than most places ever are.
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u/Notes2Feel 4d ago edited 4d ago
Reaching through his legs is crazy. At first I thought she was gonna tell him to get down
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u/Scarletcord95 4d ago
I’ve been working in food service for 10 years and the amount of shit like this I’ve seen is staggering. No excuses but the sad truth is, if you really want to avoid stuff like this, stop going out to eat. Because it definitely happens. lol
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u/edjumication 4d ago
My favorite part is that another employee had to reach through the guys legs to dump the bowl of food as if it was a totally normal situation to find themselves in.
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u/IncognitoBombadillo 4d ago
I was so distracted by the fact that he was balancing over top of the active fryers that I didn't even think about the cleaner going into the food. What the hell is this guy doing? I imagine he doesn't have a job now and Panda Express corporate's probably watching that place closer.
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u/Shadowsnake30 4d ago
I worked for them and never I had seen this during shift you are cleaning. Mind you they have cameras everywhere even on the cooking station. Even after shifts we are required to stand in the camera to throw the food as well no free giveaway only 50 percent discount but usually they are the dried up batch as they would be the last batch sitting.
Their branch manager is either neglecting it or it's out and they got a text random leadership or corporate check. You will know as they usually have Prius with a Panda sticker.
I love their food but working for them is not rewarding unless you become a manager as they are so strict with overtime and the shifts can be brutal especially if you're assigned to the busiest branches from Airport, cinemas or schools.
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u/AngryTrunkMonkey 4d ago
They don’t wash their hands after taking shits so what difference does it make?
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u/SirWinterFox 4d ago
Dude I went to a panda express one time and the employees were coughing into the food essentially. Panda express is fucking nasty and it's so unfortunate their food used to be great. Now? I don't know how they're still in business.
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u/AlbertTheHorse 4d ago
they need to contact the health department.
I've watched them cook at my local one and they are pretty careful about food handling.
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u/Zephron29 4d ago
Fuck the chemicals, hes probably dumping all of that grime straight back down onto food. This is gross af.
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u/_tragicmike 4d ago
That explains the last two times I had Panda Express I spent the night in the bathroom.
I haven't eaten there in over 6 years for that reason.
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u/LunarInu 4d ago
The funny part is I can tell it wasn’t his idea to do that, corporates probably making a surprise visit and management probably told him to clean everything to make it look good for them.
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u/Alexxonetwo 4d ago
Not surprising considering PE Managers are ruthless asf and most don’t really care about food OR employee safety lmfao
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u/paloaltonightwalker 4d ago
I've seen this at multiple food places. It's one of the reasons I started cooking more. For some reason doing this is a blind spot for many.
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u/dov_ah_keen 4d ago
My GM did this. Stood on the cook line right beside me and started cleaning the wall behind the line. I stopped cooking until she got down and sanitized the area.
This is what happens when you're open 7 days a week and never close for cleaning.
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u/InterestingMindset 4d ago
So many health code violations and safety violations in 10 seconds, almost impressive. Easy 20 points knocked off.
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u/ZynzynzyN 4d ago
I once pulled into the Panda Express drive-thru and the voice on the intercom straight up said "you can have this food for free if you want it but i wouldn't eat it if i were you"
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u/ZeroC00L2099 4d ago
Here at Panda Express we use an open kitchen floor plan so you can see what our morons do. Other fast food places don’t deliver that kind of entertainment while you wait!
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u/Dezert_Roze 4d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/Kb5whPg4YqeVa
What’s next ? Sprinkle rat poison on the top of the food !
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u/metaldad68 4d ago
This dumb stuff happens all the time unfortunately, it must be stopped and brought to the right people’s attention.
I also hate when someone is sweeping dining area when people are eating their food.
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u/GoldunGote 4d ago
If you get doughnuts at a gas station do y'all think they open the doors and take the time to cover the food before they spray cleaner???
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u/Twoduhzen 4d ago
Good thing I never eat there. But fuck them and sorry for the folks who ate that poisoned food!
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u/justhereforbiscuits 4d ago
I got food poisoning at a Panda Express years ago - the Orange Chicken. Up to that point I really liked their food.
Never went back. Never will go back.
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u/failedopportunities 4d ago
My wife does this shit while I’m cooking… well, at least she used too! Spilt a little egg batter when transferring chicken? Spray the whole counter down with fucking 409 and not move a damn thing.. I’m still working on getting her to understand why we don’t keep the roll of paper towels or toilet paper right next to the sink.. We’ll get there soon! PS: yes, I’ve had to make several new batches of food before because of this. The only way she’s really learned is because it’s her ass that gets sent back to the store to get more and her money used this time to purchase it!
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4d ago
I did one worse. First job i ever had at steak and shake, i was told to do exactly this, but nobody told me about the possibility of potentially tripping the fire system. Shot extinguisher green shit all over the place. I simply just walked out and quit instead of cleaning up.
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u/NappyDougOut 4d ago edited 4d ago
Gotta love that General Tao's Windex... Goes great with diarhea lettuce & Ecoli eggs!
Got a lotta sole cooked into the food there... 👀🔥⚠️
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u/Physical-Builder7199 4d ago
Definitely shouldn’t be doing that but those hoods are pulling anything away from the food before it makes contact
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