Pacific edition, Friday, August 31, 2007
Like the old Burger King commercial slogan promises, Staff Sgt. Wesley Hart wanted a Whopper his way — lettuce, pickle, ketchup and mustard. But he also wanted it made by an employee with clean hands.
The fixings were never a problem, but Hart couldn’t get the employees at the Burger King near Hovey Cut on Camp Casey to wear gloves while working with the food. “I corrected the same person before and told her that I would report her if she did it again,” Hart said about his lunch experience Tuesday.
The employee’s supervisor walked by as Hart asked the employee to use gloves, but the boss did nothing, Hart said. He canceled his order and sent an e-mail that afternoon to Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials, expressing his frustration.
Shortly afterward, Hart received phone apologies from managers and a promise that retraining would occur. Hart appreciated the response but remains skeptical about the training, especially after he ordered chicken and fries from an AAFES-run snack bar at Camp Casey on Wednesday. He asked the employee to put gloves on while handling uncooked chicken and other items. The employee said he had gloves but never put them on, Hart said.
Hart said AAFES officials told him that employees have been trained to use gloves in the past.
“[The training] isn’t doing anything,” Hart said. “I honestly wish there is something we could do to fix the glove thing.”
Ken Limitiaco, AAFES general manager for the Red Cloud garrison, said via e-mail on Wednesday that the gloveless service is being addressed.
“I called Sgt. Hart and he explained the situation to me again and I assured him that it will be taken care of,” Limitiaco said. “I personally went to the [Burger King on Wednesday] and reviewed with management the issues identified and he had already taken action to correct what was identified by Sgt. Hart.”
AAFES requires food workers to wear gloves while handling food, and they must wash their hands and put on new gloves if they touch other objects.
The Camp Casey Post Exchange food-court restaurants appear to follow these rules, Hart said.
