Pubs Etc Can They Polish/wipe Up Their Drinking Glasses?

[dunnitall]

I have tried looking on google but can't find anything so am probably not looking in the right place. I wonder if anyone can tell me please, is there any sort of 'ruling' (EU for e.g.) where it says pubs, clubs and restaurants are not allowed to polish glasses after they've been washed up?

A 'gentle' argument with someone in the family maintains they are not allowed to use glass clothes/tea towels to polish glasses for customers to use. I am often faced with dirty, marked and water stained glasses when dining out which I complain about but then the family member chips in and tells me 'they aren't allowed to wipe them up'. Does anyone have knowledge on this please, many thanks for your help and comments?

[EDDIE51]

Ok possibly possibly not law but recomended as 'good practice'. Just try hand washing in a kitchen that does over 1,200 meals every lunch time ( as I do ) and see how you get on! We have a 'tunnel' dish washer that takes 5 hard working people to keep up with 'feeding it'.

[EDDIE51]

^^ And we have to put a temperature recorder through it every day and record the result!

[Maydup]

If a high heat glass washer reaches a certain temperature Eddie, it can be used without adding chemicals. hence the need to record the level to ensure the bacteria is killed.

[RATTER15]

In Care Homes and I imagine it to be the same in cafes and restaurants etc. we wash by hand and then everything goes through a sanitizer, similar to a dish washer but completes a cycle in about three minutes and is boiling hot! it then comes out, and the temperature of the utensils and cutlery is enough to dry it very quickly. We rarely use tea towels for anything.

[woofgang]

....and EDDIE who recommends it as good practice?

[ummmm]

I worked in the town hall function rooms and they didn't even have a glass washer!

[EDDIE51]

Maydup the glass/dish washer still needs water softener ,detergent and rinse aid it would never work with just hot water.
The kitchens I have worked in all have sheets that have to be filled in every day, fridge / freezer temperatures and the wash temperature must be filled in and the record sheet signed.
Ummmm I worked in pubs that just hand washed glasses and plates etc but it was years ago. Food hygine regulations will not allow it now.

[boxtops]

Our local pub still handwashes and dries on a rack. There doesn't seem to be any problem there. They wouldn't have room for a dishwasher, best practice or not. It's not a legal requirement.

[EDDIE51]

Ratter glass / dish wash machines in pubs ,resturaunts ,canteens do a full wash , rinse cycle in 2 to 3 minutes and the temperature is over 60deg C.
They are nothing like household dish washers that take 1/2 an hour or so to do a cycle.

[boxtops]

http://lovebeerlovefood.com/beer-clean-glassware-at-home/

[Mamyalynne]

My friend's Pub didn't have room for a glass washer for a while - she had one of those brush things in the sink, then they were dried on a slotted rack.

[EDDIE51]

^^ I remember those rotating brushes in the sink they worked well but they WERE made illegal, my local pub had to get rid of theirs, I remember the landlord moaning about it.

[Mamyalynne]

Yes she had to have the bar refitted to take a washer in.

[RATTER15]

Eddie. I expect they are using the same machines that we use, but we just rinse off the worst before putting them through the machine.

[EDDIE51]

boxtops, the link you posted is great, it makes the point that pub glasses must be washed in a machine or hand washed a 3 tub sink. ( 3 sinks and a drying rack)
Very few places have room for the required 3 tub sink so they use machines.

[boxtops]

I agree it does, Eddie - but my local doesn't have either of those, just a sink under the counter. Environmental Health don't seem to object.

[EDDIE51]

Ratter in a pro kitchen you scrape the food off, put the dishes on the wash rack and spray with a hot water shower head, then they go into the dishwasher for a 2 stage wash and rinse.

[RATTER15]

Sounds like the same type of machine Eddie, we just give a rinse in hot soapy water before the machine wash.

[woofgang]

It doesn't say MUST it talks about beer perfect glasses, nothing about the law or Health and Safety.

[EDDIE51]

This type of detail is down to the local food hygine inspectors it is not law.
There is the 'scores on the doors' star system now. Anywhere that serves 'food' which inculdes drinks in this contex has to have a 1 to 5 star 'score'.
A place that had is accessed as having poor hygine will only get 1 or 2 stars
It can still trade but it has to display a sign that it has been rated as 1 or 2 star only. Most places have 4 or 5 stars which means food hygine is rated as 'very good' or 'excellent'. 1 star means 'poor' and 2 star means 'needs improvement'. They can still trade but many people would not use a place with just 1 or 2 stars.
Last year 5 of us went for a meal, 3 of us got food poisoning. I went back to the pub and could not find the star notice. Eventually I found it down the end of a corridor marked 'staff only'it was 1 star 'poor'. That notice should have been on the door so every one could see it. If I had seen it I would have walked out without eating
Boxtops what' star rating' does your local have, all places that serve food including pubs that sell only drinks must have one.