Make up
your own mind

1 The final instalment of my Quality Scout story.

This time we were on home soil as our visit was to take us to a McDonald’s restaurant in Inverness.

We were to see behind the scenes; watch the delivery coming into the restaurant, see the staff working in the kitchen, have a go at cooking the burgers, (my apologies to the person who bought the ones I cooked) and get the reaction of the staff on how they feel working for a chain such as McDonald’s.

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2 Saturday morning, busy place!

After having a chat and a coffee with Craig (who has the franchise of this restaurant) and Becky (she is the manager of this restaurant) we began our tour. I have never really thought much about it before when I’ve stood placing my order, but, as I have discovered about every one of my Quality Scout visits, there is more to everything than meets the eye.

The first port of call was to see Darren the delivery driver and the delivery that was waiting to go in the lift and into the store room fridge and freezer. Nothing falling off of the back of a lorry here! Everything is checked off by Craig or another member of staff to make sure that anything perishable is at the right temperature (below -16C, anything above this temp is rejected) and that it has arrived in tip top condition. The staff have 30 minutes max to do this.

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3 The back of shop

Next we went back inside the restaurant and upstairs to the ‘back of shop’ if you like, to see what really goes on behind the scenes. Bound to find something untoward lurking here surely? Unused food on the floor, out of date packages, bins overflowing, mouse droppings, spotty staff sitting picking their noses (well some of you do think that and a lot worse!).

I was disappointed – nothing!

Craig showed us the storage room where they keep the boxes for the Happy Meals, napkins, paper cups for your drinks etc.

Moving on from that came the chiller room where the likes of sauces, lettuce and onions for the burgers etc are stored. This room is kept at a steady temp of 2-4C.

Following this was the walk in freezer room where the likes of Quarter Pounders and hamburgers are kept, this part is kept at -18,-23C and it is checked 3 times a day to make sure that this temp is maintained. (It's bloody cold I can vouch for that!!).

That word that cropped up again here was "traceability" with Craig pointing out a box of burgers that had came from Scunthorpe. The box was stamped with a code to use for tracing its origin, as well as the time and date that the box came off the line at Esca (the factory where the beef is turned into burger patties).

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4 Crew training plays a key role

In the corridor there were lots of staff information sheets and Craig informed us that they were referring to training that is carried out on site. These included observational checklists (O.C.L.’s) tied into to health and safety, food hygiene etc. Craig is passionate about training being an ongoing thing within the restaurant - he feels it is all important.

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5 Into the kitchen…

Now to get, in Craig's words, "suited and booted" ready for the action in the kitchen. Here aprons, hairnets and hats are worn and religious hand washing takes place.

This was to be a new experience for Stanley; he's unfamiliar with the word "oven"!!

Becky took over here and gave me a run through of cooking the burgers. A glove is used to take the pattie out and place it onto the grill, where they are laid in a particular order depending on how many are needed. The glove is to avoid any cross contamination of the food and even to take the glove off again you place your other hand inside it to slip it off. After laying the patties on the grill you have just enough time to organise the buns and sauce etc ready for the burger!

I like to think I’m a reasonable cook and it didn't look like rocket science, but my 1st attempt went in the bin after burning the burgers! The 2nd attempt was successful and went out to some poor soul (hence the apology) who bought my newly created Quarter Pounder.

Becky also pointed out that the grill is cleaned every time a burger is cooked and that the place where they sit ready to go out is kept at a steady 63-66°C, in line with food safety rules. Also the cooked food is held no longer than 10mins - if it is not sold within this time it is binned. On really busy days they appoint someone especially to keep check on this. This is a McDonald’s standard, not a health and safety stipulation.

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6 How do the staff feel about all the urban myths?

We spoke to Becky on how the staff in general feel about all the stories that seem to be attached to McDonald’s.

At first she said you take it quite personally, and in her opinion it makes you angry, because she knows more than most how hard everyone on the team works and the standards they have to adhere to. She thinks that the idea of Quality Scouts is great because it is a case of the general public coming in and seeing things at face value what goes on. They don't put on a show for you, they don't have time for that, and this is how it is.

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7 This has been a journey from the field to the fork.

Undertaking these visits has opened my eyes and it's changed how I feel on taking my children to McDonald’s. I am happier now, knowing that the food is up to scratch, that the staff are not only trained on health and hygiene, they also have self respect and pride in the job they do. Every link in the chain is trying to achieve their best.

We’ve seen the start of the journey at the Martin farm, where the cattle are reared. We've witnessed first hand at Esca in Scunthorpe where the burgers are made, had a premiere with the launch of the new Chicken Select product and finally we’ve been to a restaurant to see the finished article - the burger being cooked.

My last thought on this is a question.

How many other major brands/companies do you know that have "Joe Bloggs" such as Stanley and I, who have no formal experience in the food industry and aren't on the payroll, going behind the scenes to see what really goes on?

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