A penny saved, a penny gained. Following that wisdom, a restaurant outlet in Penang use used straw to gain more penny.GEORGE TOWN: A restaurant here has been caught re-using drinking straws for its customers. Penang Municipal Council officers were horrified when they saw a worker washing the straws during a spot check on eateries in Pulau Tikus on Wednesday.
“He told us they were going to reuse it. We were shocked and gave him a stern warning,” its public health standing committee member Ong Ah Teong said.
They returned to the restaurant later to verify that their instructions had been followed, he said.
He warned that restaurant owners who committed such misdeeds could face closure.
They would be given warning “but if they still ignore it, they could face a fine of RM100,” he said.
“If they persist, we will lodge a report with the state Health Department to shut the place down,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Several people who have come across such situations said people should look out for signs of bite marks on the straws to make sure that they were not “recycled”.
It is learnt that some restaurant workers would even resort to cutting off the tips of straws and reuse them again
Communication manager Josey Wong, 35, said she found bite marks on her straw while having her meal at a popular food outlet.
“I asked a waiter about it and he admitted that the restaurant would recycle drinking straws.
“This is unhygienic as some people use the straw to pick their teeth,” she said.
Sales executive Adeline Goh, 27, also faced a similar situation when she was dining at a seafood restaurant in Butterworth.
“The tip of the drinking straw was flattened after being bitten by someone else.
“I confronted the waiter and he just replaced it with a new one. It was just so disgusting,” she said.
Ong said those who come across such cases should call the council hotline at 04-2637637.
“They can ask for the report reference number and follow it up with us later to see if any action had been taken,” he said.
Penang Restaurants and Tea-shops Association (Dim Sum) chairman Yee Yook Chee said it had never been a practice for restaurateurs to reuse drinking straws.
“As far as I’m concerned, our association members do not do that.
“However, some operators may not be aware that their workers are doing that.
“I advise them to educate their workers since the reputation of the restaurant is at stake,” she said.
from Thestar June 11 2010
Business must be very bad or simply because of GREED
