[net.veg] Plastic Milk

hav@dual.UUCP (Repo Wench) (02/12/86)

In article <3895@glacier.ARPA>, king@glacier.ARPA (Robin King) writes a very
reasonable argument against this vile brew.

First a caution to those of you out there who may automatically assume that
because you are served a container full of white liquid that the liquid is
milk or cream:  If memory serves me correctly, there is a "recipe" on the
back of Coffeemate (TM?) jars that tells you how much water to add to how
much white powder in order to make a white liquid out of the junk.  This goo
can be kept on the table all day but must be refrigerated if it is to be kept
longer.  The moral here is that not all white liquids are what they appear to
be.

Second, I have a lot of difficulty believing (1) that a pitcher of the real
thing will remain full all day, long enough to raise the concern of spoilage
(i.e., within an hour or two, three at the most, it's going to have to be
refilled, and it doesn't seem too difficult to keep the large container from
which the refills come in the fridge--when I get a refill in the pitcher at
my table, it always seems to arrive cold); and (2) that there is a risk of
spoilage in just one day, even if it *were* to remain there the whole time.
Unless it's 90 degrees in the room, it's gonna take longer than a few hours to
turn it to cheese.

Last, as another netter mentioned, I think it's reasonable to keep the
powdered stuff available for those customers with lactose intolerance/dairy
product allergies/what-have-you.  I don't think, however, that it's
reasonable to expect us to fill ourselves up on that crap because the
restaurant wants to cut costs.

     Helen Anne      {ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,decwrl,ucbvax,sun}!dual!hav

            /* This is a disclaimer.  I deny it all.  Period. */

Hey, there's a great future as a fry cook!  I could be manager in two years.

lauran@reed.UUCP (Laura Nepveu) (02/17/86)

>Second, I have a lot of difficulty believing (1) that a pitcher of the real
>thing will remain full all day, long enough to raise the concern of spoilage
>(i.e., within an hour or two, three at the most, it's going to have to be
>refilled, and it doesn't seem too difficult to keep the large container from
>which the refills come in the fridge--when I get a refill in the pitcher at
>my table, it always seems to arrive cold); and (2) that there is a risk of
>spoilage in just one day, even if it *were* to remain there the whole time.
>Unless it's 90 degrees in the room, it's gonna take longer than a few hours to
>turn it to cheese.
>
This is not the problem.  The health codes for the county I
worked in required that ANY food that was to be served to
customers that had been cooked or was liable to spoil (e. g.
milk or cream) not be allowed to sit at room temperature for
more than 1 and 1/2 hours.  They have come to that decision on
the basis of how much time it takes bacteria such as salmonella
and other nasties to grow.  It doesn't have to be cheese to make
you sick.  If it does sit out that long it must be discarded.
This can get very expensive for the small restaurant owner.

Laura


>     Helen Anne