A Burger King employee in Florida was spotted using a dirty mop to clean a table right after using it to clean the floor.
“I had just eaten on that table. Did you do this yesterday? Do you do this every night? Did you do this, this morning?” she asked.
A representative for the fast-food chain told her: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, and rest assure [sic] that your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate management team,” according to Duran.
A Burger King spokesperson also told WJXT that the “action depicted in the video is unacceptable and not in line with our brand standards or operational procedures.”
“We have strict protocols around cleanliness and food safety. The restaurant owner will be re-training his team on all operational protocols,” the chain said.
Also, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued a remark to the local news outlet that using a mop to clean a table goes against FDA regulations.
“Pursuant to the FDA Food Code, cloths in-use for wiping counters and other equipment surfaces must be clean and held between uses in a chemical sanitizer solution,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “A floor mop is not an acceptable cleaning implement.”
Duran said that now, she will leave an online review on every page belonging to Burger King.
Plant-Based Burger?
Burger King could soon be selling plant-based burgers nationwide.
Restaurant Brands International, Burger King’s parent, said April 29 that a month-long test of the Impossible Whopper at 59 restaurants in St. Louis had gone so well that it will start testing it in additional markets. The company said it may expand sales nationally by the end of this year.
The sandwich is made with a plant-based burger from Impossible Foods, a Redwood City, Calif.-based startup. Burger King is the first fast-food chain to test the Impossible burger, but other chains are offering plant-based burgers from competitors like Beyond Meat.
Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King’s North American operations, said during an earnings conference call April 29 that the Impossible Whopper was attracting new customers. He said the chain will sell the Impossible Whopper nationally if the reaction in other test markets “is a strong as it was in St. Louis.”
“It’s really difficult to distinguish between the Impossible Whopper and the original Whopper,” he said.
Burger King wouldn’t say which markets will get the sandwich next.
The news was a bright spot in otherwise-disappointing first-quarter earnings for Restaurant Brands, which said its first-quarter net income fell 9% to $135 million on weaker same-store sales growth.
The Toronto-based company reported net income of 53 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs like fees to a restructuring consultant, came to 55 cents per share.
