Food safety concerns are growing after videos circulated showing unsanitary behavior at two major U.S. chain restaurants. One clip from a Panda Express in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, showed an employee standing on top of a fryer while cleaning a ventilation hood and spraying chemical cleaner.
In the video, another worker continued placing food into fryer baskets below while the cleaning was taking place. The witness who recorded the footage said they could not believe what they were seeing. Panda Express said the conduct did not meet food safety standards and said it took corrective action and retrained employees.
A separate video from a Dunkin' location on Staten Island, inside a New York City ferry, showed a male employee washing his bare feet in a kitchen sink and quickly spread on TikTok. Some viewers speculated the act may have been linked to wudu, the Islamic ritual of purification, but the main concern was the hygiene issue in a sink used for food preparation.
New York City health officials reiterated that food safety requirements must be followed, and the city’s Department of Transportation, which operates the ferry, said it would take appropriate action.
