Chartwells, the company that holds the food service contract at UH, is under fire from students:
“The students as a whole are not gung-ho happy,” RHA President Russell Payne said. “However, they have acknowledged that there have been improvements.”
Students’ concerns ranged from pricing in convenience stores to their inventory.
Some of the loudest complaints, however, had to do with sanitation and customer service.
Advertising junior Phong Chau said employees handling the food, such as those working at Taco Bell in the Satellite, never wear gloves.
“For the price I pay,” Phong said, “I expect so much more.”
The district manager for Chartwells, showing that all those years of management training have really paid off, responded:
However, Chartwells Resident District Manager Nick Iula said gloves aren’t required by the sanitation department and are not encouraged by Taco Bell.
“If an associate has a glove on and picks his hair, it’s the same as if he picked his hair without a glove on,” Iula said. “Chartwells has never had one confirmed case of food-borne illness.”
Oh, that’s disgusting! Food handlers should not be picking their hair or anything else, while they are working.
Callie, get Marvin on the phone, pronto.
The good news is UH students needn’t worry. Iula is on the case and says that once the company’s contract is renewed, there will be big changes:
Iula said the company has a number of plans for continuing to improve its service — but they’re being kept secret so they are not copied by competitors.
“There will be changes made that you won’t believe,” Iula said.
(emphasis added)
Iula should probably be more concerned with current hygiene issues, such as employees picking their hair while working, rather than his super secret future food improvements.
