Unsafe Dishwashing Practices - Chipotle Mexican Grill, Hamilton Ohio

1455 Main Street, Hamilton, 45013 Ohio, United States

The restaurant does not follow industry standards in food preparation and general maintenance of cookwares.

I was assigned to wash dishes although I was hired as a culinary prep for vegetables.

I was forced to wash dishes without any kind of protective gloves, face shield or other gear. The result is my hands are completely infested with sores and skin damage. This is from one 8 hour shift.

My hands are damaged do to the high temperature of hot water, chemical exposure and repetitive contact with sharp edges of the steel cookwares.

I have taken pictures of my hands and the damage inflicted to them due to the improper procedures of handling such equipment in high volumes.

My family owned and operated delicatessens and 101 catering trucks in Chicago for over 40 years. I am fully educated in the proper procedures of handling cookwares and the process of a 3 bay sink.

The procedures that are spelled out by the FDA, OSHA and American Food Safety Council (AFSC) are not followed AT ALL in this location.

The employees have developed an internal system to SPEED wash the cookwares. This results in the cookwares being contaminated with residues left behind such as chemical, biological and physical (labels, paper). This leads to cross contamination that spreads the residue to the food that is being served to the general public.

I tried to follow the procedures as prescribed by the agencies mentioned previously. Assistant employees would come over and deliberately sabotage the process. They would inject the used wares into the wash and sanitizer waters without proper pre-spraying and removal of the left over food waste.

This resulted in the two sink being turned in to "soup" and unable to drain. The traps on the system are clogged immediately. The cleaning water is used over and over again because it is a very slow process to change the water.

Dishes are placed in the wash water for less than 30 seconds. This results in the wash water being contaminated and useless. The dishes are not pre-sprayed in to the sink skimmer. This results in the dishes releasing large amounts of food in to the hot wash water.

The dishes are then transferred in to the sanitizer sink without being sprayed with hot water. From the sanitizer sink dishes are removed and stacked for use in the kitchen. The auto-dishwasher is by-passed in the process except for large cookware.

The process that this restaurant is using does not produce clean dishes at all. During my 8 hour period customers returned to complain about food quality and taste. There were complaints every hour.

I worked 8 1/2 hours continuously with no break. My skin was continuously exposed to the chemicals and food waste. After I went home I realized how bad my hands were damaged. They are covered with cuts and chemical burns. I was unable to sleep due to the extreme pain and throbbing.

I have had a headache and been down for the last 3 days | Symptoms: Nausea, Other, Headache