I don't think that was a very appealing thing to do...but I know of no requirements for cleanliness for the outside of a bread wrapper and likely that wrapper was just as apt to pick up something nasty from the floor as from a passing sneezer or cougher.
There are many things we think of as "spreading germs" like stacking wrapped bread on the floor and many other things we don't even consider like flushing the toilet with the lid up...or putting your purse on the table.
Germs are everywhere...hard to avoid 'em.
Linda C

Unwrapped bread on the floor? Put there by ungloved hands, too, no doubt.

It's a matter the health authorities should know about. I wouldn't even give the store manager the courtesy of letting him know my intentions of reporting it.

Thanks for your replies. Daisy, the loaves were in their plastic wrappers. (Big chain store, commercial bread.) Linda, You don't seem as surprised as I was. I confess I was somewhat startled because it is second nature to me to keep things off the floor. If I ran a grocery, they wouldn't be putting the bread on the floor! LOL

Even if floors look clean, they are germy. Think of all the people walking in, where habve their shoes been? All over! I would have walked myself over to the office and complained to a boss.

Foods stuffs are never allowed to be on the floor. The report should be made to the Dept. of Ag. rep for your area here in the States. Just go to the US Department of Agriculture site for info on who to contact for your area. Making the complaint to the store mgr won't do any good at all.

Nancy

I worked grocery for 7 years. Not sure of the health code "rules" BUT

No way those should have been on the floor!!

If they didn't have bread racks (the plastic stacking trays) available, they should have been put in a grocery cart at the very least.

When we did re-sets or price changes, even the canned goods were put in a cart, or on a rolling rack.

I'd give the store manager a call--the stock clerk (or vendor) who did that should have a good talking to...

I was at a grocery store, one of the somewhat pricey ones, and a pear fell to the floor, bounced few times, and rolled to a stop. I picked it up, and handed it to the produce man that was stocking items. He just put it back on the display. I was dumbfounded. Germs aside, that pear was not worth selling after bouncing so many times, but he didn't seem to care. I guess fruits and onions, anything that's stacked, is likely to fall on the floor a few times. And I didn't even think about the germs the pear picked up. Of course, I always wash my produce before eating it, anyway. It never occurred to me we may need to wash our bread wrappers, too. I quit buying commercial bread a long time ago, anyway. When the expiration date is a few weeks in the future, I figure that I don't want to eat whatever they put into the bread that makes it last that long. The preservatives scare me more than the germs on the wrapper.

Sally

Thanks for your replies. You have confirmed what I thought and I probably should have said something to the manager. It's a little too much after-the-fact now, but if there is a next time I will speak up.

I've attended food safety in sanitation classes in NC, KY and CA, and in all three states (as of the time I got certifications) that is a direct violtion of health codes. All items are to be a minimum of 6" off the floor AT ALL TIMES. That applies to both restuarants and grocery stores, food or anything that comes in contact with food, wrapped or unwrapped. The correct procedure would have been to bring a plastic or metal (cleaned) dunnage rack, pallet or other raised cart/surface to the ares and stack the bread on that.

I would alert the health department simply because such things can become a habit when not addressed.

i'd take the bread stacked on the floor over what occurred several months back in a grocery store i will no longer go into.

as i came through the dairy aisle, two guys were (re)stocking and chatting. as i stopped to get half and half, the one that was directly in the refrigerator case was coughing and coughing and coughing some more. i told him how disgusted i thought it was, how unsanitary that he didn't think to step away and cover his mouth and that i hoped his own family didn't have to tolerate such nasty conditions in whatever grocery store they shopped. i left my cart and left the store after mentioning it to the customer service counter - who really didn't seem to care.

maryanne

Along this same track, when i worked at a McDonald's, I dropped a tray of cooked, wrapped Big Macs on the floor. The boss told me to throw them all out. They did not dock my salary. I felt like a fool. But I learned a lesson about food handling.