Before I start, here is a disclaimer... the following article has no scientific backing and is purely speculated on observations... any resemblance dead or alive.. is purely coincidental...

Now, onto the topic..

Was sitting around in the fast-food restaurant the other day.. day-dreaming.. when I noticed this phenomenon... to most of us.. it is such a common act.. that it might be overlooked... and it got me thinking... indeed.. in a food court.. or a fast-food restaurant... the tray might be the most contaminated thing we would normally come in contact with...

First up... a look at the anatomies of the tray and the bin.... note that the wings of the tray are where you normally hold the tray... and the sheet.. is only available at higher class food courts and fast-food outlets where there is a paper sheet given on top of the tray surface.


So, where does the contamination occur? The tray looks clean when we take it... yes.. the contamination occurs at the last action before leaving the place... the disposal of the waste... shown below are the various means of disposing your leftovers/refuse from the tray as observed...

Personally the "Banger" would be the most irritating movement due to the commotion made.. wand both the "High tilter" and "Banger" might actually spill more refuse out of the bin if done incorrectly...

Based on observation of the techniques used... and assuming that the trays came in contact with the inner ledge of the bin... we speculate the amount of contamination that might have occured...

It should be noted that although the "High Tilter" and "Banger" might be disturbing and require precision... they might actually have the least contact with the ledge.. thus minimizing contamination...

So you might say... but the cleaners do wipe the trays clean... indeed... they do wipe the top of the tray clean... but what about the bottom.. that is in contact with the ledge of the bin? These "cleaned" trays would be stacked one on top of the other... and the nice contaminated bottom of tray 1 will come in contact with the "cleaned" top of tray 2.....

And afterall.. the "cleaned" trays are once again stacked back on top of the bin... smart move yeah?

And a final note... what about trays that have sheets of paper of them.. don't they at least help? Yes... they do help.. but only if the sheets are placed freshly when the trays are served to you... if the sheets are placed and stored together with the tray.. to save time... it wouldn't really help....

So~ I highly doubt that most fast-food restaurants or food courts actually wash their trays regularly throughout the day.. maybe a wipe of the top surface to remove spills and thats it... I do know that some wash the trays at the end of the day... but hey... how many times those trays have been recycled throughout the day?

Thus, it should be noted... that unlike the utensils and bowls/plates that can be washed frequently and the table that does not come into contact with the bin... caution should be observed when handling the tray... and even with the sheet on... you should confine the area of use to the sheet.. and not the exposed tray...