Passenger Trains > Amtrak warns: Unauthorized Items in Food Service Cars

Amtrak Service Delivery & Operations Support has found it necessary to
issue a reminder regarding violations of company policy in the
preparation and serving aboard Food Service Cars.

Among other things, Amtrak policy prohibits individual Chefs from
bringing their own seasonings to use in preparing dining car meals.

Excerpts:

FOCUS ON: Unauthorized Food Items in Food Service Cars

> Recent observations of employees working in Food Service Cars have
> identified policy violations with regards to unauthorized food items
> being brought onboard, stored and used in the preparation of meals.
> Passengers expect meals to be prepared and served in a manner which
> ensure consistent taste and presentation regardless of the train.
> Some employees believe, in the spirit of delivering improved service,
> they are enhancing meals by adding additional seasonings, condiments
> or unauthorized food and beverage items. These practices are in
> violation of Amtrak policy.

The following policies were singled out:

> Employees are strictly prohibited from using or supplying any food
> items that are not specified in the “Transfer Out Form” (896) and
> supplied by the Catering Vendor. Additional prohibited items are
> items that are brought onboard by employees and given to passengers
> for no-charge (free).

> Employees are required to strictly adhere to Amtrak policies and FDA
> regulations to ensure that unauthorized food and beverage products
> are not used or stored in food preparation areas, refrigerators,
> freezers and dry storage areas. This includes food items and
> medicine brought onboard by passengers as well as employees.

> • The storage of personal food items in refrigerators or freezers is
> prohibited because personal food and/or containers may be
> contaminated.

> • Train crews must never request that personal and/or passenger food
> items be stored in any refrigerator or freezer.

> • Passengers requesting the storage of items, such as insulin and
> baby formula, are also prohibited. Ice buckets, a freezer bag of ice
> (available from the kitchen) or a glass of ice can be provided to
> keep medications chilled.

> Amtrak is prohibited from providing any refrigeration, thawing,
> heating, cooking or storage of any food or beverage items brought
> on-board by passengers or employees.

> Crews working in any Food Service Car must strictly adhere to FDA
> rules and inspection standards. (Refer to Chapter 3 “FDA Rules and
> Inspections”)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/13 09:26 by GenePoon.

As an L.S. A., I got in trouble years ago for bringing "unauthorized" strawberries on board and stowing them in my Empire Builder cafe reefer. Old "Big Foot" the inspector got me!
That, and other "Diner Daze" stories will appear in a book someday that will have to wait til my retirement.... I'm way too busy to do it now (plus I don't want to deal with Amtrak "intellectual property" attorneys!!!).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/13 09:37 by IC_2024.

One can see the rationale for this (you never know whether something brought aboard meets FDA standards), but it would be nice if Amtrak meals were more innovative to begin with.

The refusal for insulin storage will upset some passengers, I'm sure. Heating baby formula would probably also be prohibited, as would chilled storage of pumped breast milk.

Airlines are able to deal with this. I wonder if they have separate facilities to store insulin, etc on the plane?

I wonder what free stuff is being given away? Must be something if it rose to a Boardman announcement

Remember back when the City of New Orleans was finally promoted from its dismal Crummysnackbar status
to having a REAL dining car? Amtrak, in its employee magazine, singled out a Chef and complimented
him for bringing his own seasonings and giving the stock AmMeals a regional New Orleans flavor.

That was almost two decades ago. He's probably retired by now.

The food on the CNO was outstanding when I rode about 3 years ago. I assumed it was Amtrak standard fare. I wonder, now if the chef on board did a little improvising.

I think if the chef wishes to bring customization to the diner, there should be a way to facilitate that. i.e. buying through an approved vendor, etc.

I definitely understand the potential health concerns with bringing your own turkey sandwich and putting it in the 'official' refrigerator.

Policy sounds reasonable to me. What's the problem? Remember corporations have to be extra concerned about liability issues nowadays.

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think if the chef wishes to bring customization
> to the diner, there should be a way to facilitate
> that. i.e. buying through an approved vendor,
> etc.

I agree P... there should be a way to do this.

As I see it, the problem is Amtrak essentially has two competing values:
--They want food to be consistent so that the food tastes the same in every dining car (similar to how a chain restaurant operates).
--They hire trained "chefs" and feature the creativity of the good ones both online and in Amtrak Ink.

I think a solution would be to make the "chef's special" truly that. Allow the chef to order ingredients off an approved list from the catering vendor... but prepare them how they see fit.

It would allow for a mostly consistent (but always safe) meal, but with a level of creativity that would give passengers a unique experience at every dinner in the diner.

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA

reminds me of a trip back when the New York Central passenger device was circling the drain and one of the Chicago - New York trains provided only a sleeper lounge's kitchenette and lounge space for food service, most people brought on board their own food and NYC presumed this and severely understocked the food stocks.

My family, boarding at Cleveland, had planned on dinner on board. The poor attendant, seeing 4 hungry people enter and being of the old school (give the customer the best service possible) let it be known that all that remained of the few items stocked out of Chicago was a sorry sandwich and some chips.

BUT, he quickly added that during the lengthy stop in Cleveland he had picked up some fresh hamburger and a loaf of rye bread he had planned for his dinner the next night at home in NY and if that sounded good to us, he would be pleased to try to produce a decent meal for us.

With the hamburgers on rye fancied up by whatever he could find in the larder (and his own supplies) we dined well on kindness, professionalism, and character that night.

On ATSF/Amtrak-Chicago we would leave the ATSF property (21st & Wentworth) and walk across Archer Avenue to China Town and buy an interesting dinner for the crew (consumed about 9 p.m.). In New Otleans/Houston we would try to find shrimp or other Gulf specialities for a Creole dinner.

And the Chef often created a "chef's special" for the crew. They were usually a culinary delight. We tried to wait until the dining room was mostly empty before eating this special food.

I for one do not want food "consistent" in taste to all other meals I have on an Amtrak cross country trips. This is a matter of bureaucrats running the kitchens as well as everything else.

This is a matter of bureaucrats
> running the kitchens as well as everything else.

You mean like at every chain restaurant in the country?

railwaybaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I for one do not want food "consistent" in taste
> to all other meals I have on an Amtrak cross
> country trips. This is a matter of bureaucrats
> running the kitchens as well as everything else.

That's an excellent point, but the consistency versus unique argument won't ever be resolved.

(It's a problem in many ethnic restaurants in the US,too, as people order "extra hot" and then complain the food is over spiced. Then try to return the meal to the kitchen.)

During my time in Amtrak's Zephyr dining car service ('73-'83) it was often the case that we would pool our money to allow the chef to go shopping during the Chicago layover and provide us with a tasty non-standad Amtrak meal on the return trip to Oakland. Try eating only Amtrak food for 50% of your life and it becomes pretty tiring. Even thoughAmtrak food was a no-cost-to-us "perk" of the job, we all preferred to fork over a few bucks to improve our on-board quality of life for the return trip.

It seems to me that Amtrak ought to be able to figure out a way to allow employees to be able to do this legally. After all it relieves Amtrak of the financial burden of providing some employee meals and it can be a much needed boost to moral.

Think about it, Mr. Boardman.

John Webb
Trinidad, CA

Remember when the legal community was all abuzz filing lawsuits on behalf of peanut-seized individuals on airplanes. Even the opening of a small packet two rows up would trigger a court battle. And of course don't forget the lady with the hot coffee problem at McDonalds.

Will come the day, sometime soon, when there will be a placard at your table: "Caution: Eating may kill you or cause you serious side-effects."

I once went to the grocery store with a T&E crew to purchase food to restock the dining car. This was at their crew change point and the train was running 12 hours late with a chronic shortage of food.

Not that it's common, but would this practice be banned today?

I have seen VIA crews buy food supplies for a Canadian running very late.

What's next? On several occasions when I've been riding coach I've gone to Subway and picked up a Sub to eat an hour or two later. Will that be the next thing they ban? Or how about a package or sandwich crackers I might take for a small snack? Often I would get off at one of the smoke breaks and get a soft drink. They were cheaper and I just liked to get some fresh air and stretch my legs.

It just seems that Amtrak could have a list of approved optional supplies that the chef could order from an approved vendor and then offer them to the customers.

It's sad when a company can't offer some flexibility. When I was working, sometimes I used to take a 20 minute "15 minute break." I know it was wrong but on the other hand, if we were real busy I might not take a break or I might work 5 to 10 minutes late just to take care of a customer. If we were having a really bad week, I might take a minute to get something from the vending machine and that was the only breaks I'd take for the week. A little give and take on both sides. My boss ambushed me one day after a 20 break. I told him that some times I didn't take a break or I worked late to finish something. He said that was my problem. I told him not to worry, it wouldn't happen again. I retired two years later and I never took more than 15 minutes for a break, and I think I only worked through 2 breaks. Instead of finishing something before going home I started about 10 minutes to quiting time, telling him I needed relief so I could go home. As much as I hated doing it, but on occasion I put the customer on hold, told the boss, and just left.

So who was the winner? Sure wasn't the customer and the company didn't win either.

I can see problems with storing personal medicine or supplies in the kitchen. Lots of potential problems with that but what if a customer wants seasoning salt on their french toast? Would they deny that?

There are too many lawyers and not enough mechanics at Amtrak.

John

amt207 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember when the legal community was all abuzz
> filing lawsuits on behalf of peanut-seized
> individuals on airplanes. Even the opening of a
> small packet two rows up would trigger a court
> battle. And of course don't forget the lady with
> the hot coffee problem at McDonalds.
>
> Will come the day, sometime soon, when there will
> be a placard at your table: "Caution: Eating may
> kill you or cause you serious side-effects."

Unfortunately, if meals are not prepared on a consistent basis with the SAME ingredients, it could cause serious health effects. A same meal that is "safe" on one train could be a near death experience on the next train. Try dining out with a spouse with food allergies sometime. Items that appear "safe" might not be.

Always used to hit the McDonalds across the Chicago River from CUS before boarding the Illinois Zephyr for Quincy, while others were waiting for the snackbar to open out around Aurora, I was downing a Big Mac and watching the dinky parade whiz by!

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