Is Bulk Barn open? The bulk section (candy and nuts mostly) in my grocery store has been shut down.
https://www.bulkbarn.ca/home-en/
They're open (with reduced hours, looks like 10am-6pm) but have workers doing all the scooping for you, something grocery stores probably can't handle. Although I was at a Fortinos yesterday and the bulk section was still open there.
Be careful when taking bulk items. It’s been ages that I no longer shop at a Bulk Barn Store. My late brother and I used to do so ages ago but we eventually stopped after I felt unwell after having eaten some of these bulk foods.
You never know if they’re really hygienic with so many people scooping out and opening the containers. Unless certain foods —chocolates, for example —and only some come pre-wrapped, I would avoid anything else.
This precaution would also apply to any other grocery store that sells bulk foods (Fortinos, etc). Judging from what I’ve seen, nothing much has changed in the way bulk foods are stored.
It’s up to you the individual (and if you absolutely need to), otherwise would I prefer to avoid.
Although the Bulk Barn isn't somewhere I'd visit in the current climate, it is still a business I've frequented in the past and will continue to in the future.
Having worked in the food industry for 15 years, it really drives me crazy when people blame "not feeling well" on a business. Unless you can pinpoint the salmonella you got from eating something that was contaminated, don't drag a business through the mud because you got a belly ache.
I caught a bad sore throat (several times at the time) after eating some of the food. Coincidence or not? I just preferred to avoid. Not blaming anyone.
In those days, hand sanitizers were not in vogue, and I used to see people sticking their hands in the containers.
Look at how careful we need to be today. Now, even the exposed bread one buys at an Italian stop is wrapped in plastic, ready to go, buns included.
There was a time when people would touch bread with their hands despite the sign in front of them advising them not to do so. Eventually people started using the provided utensil, as it is done today (pre-COVID-19).
Look, I’m not heaping anything on any business or person. Since I’ve always needed to be a little extra cautious, I shied away from buying bulk.
You do what you do. I do what I do. Capito?
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