The co-owner of a Carl’s Jr. franchise was temporarily banned from his own kitchen after he was caught on camera committing grave food safety violations—including sticking his bare hands in ingredients.
Jack Webb, the co-franchisee of a Carl’s Jr. in Alberta, Canada, was reported to health authorities after he made several food safety violations caught by security cameras, according to the Canadian Boardcasting Corporation.
In one clip obtained by CBC, Webb can be seen with his hand and entire arm inside a pales of barbecue sauce, mixing it with his bare hands—a violation of Canada’s food safety regulations. A worker offers him a spoon and he refuses.
Other clips show him using his bare hands to mix sauces before moving them from one container to another using his fingers. It shows him using a dirty spatula that he grabbed from a dish pile that he only wipes with a towel before using.
In another instance, he’s seen picking of a piece of chicken up off the floor before putting it in a warming tray among other tenders.
He can also be seen transferring raw chicken from batter to a fryer without washing his hands and getting the fryer handle covered in batter and raw chicken juice, the CBC noted.
(Screenshot via CBC/Youtube)
Andrew Minnes, a former manager at the Carl’s Jr in Red Deer, Alberta, gave the footage to Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the CBC. He told Global News that he was the chain’s general manager from February 2015 through April 2017.
“I wanted to go through the right channels,” Minnes told the Global News. “I felt like AHS were the guys that dealt with this stuff, so I just wanted to make sure they were involved.”
Minnes said that he sent a video to the co-owner, partner, and a consultant—but nothing was done.
“I spoke with the owner shown in the video and showed him the footage and he basically just ignored me,” he told Global News. “It was strange.”
In a statement to the CBC, Carl’s Jr. said that “improper food handling behavior” is “unacceptable and [that it] in no way, represents Carl’s Jr.’s commitment to safe food handling.”
Webb had never taken the provincial food safety training, the CBC reported, and was ordered to refrain from handling food until proof of that training is provided to Alberta Health Services.
