Do you really know where that food's been? Think again

It's Friday night. You and your posse just got back from the bar, and while the beer was plentiful and the tunes were jamming, you decide to call it a night when you suddenly begin to feel like you're in a bad Ricky Martin video. Exhausted from a night of busting your best Beyoncé moves, you are absolutely famished.

It is time to refuel, and nothing sounds more appetizing than an extra-large cheesy, greasy pizza pie to share among your friends. But before you pick up the phone and dial Sergeant Pep's, a recent incident concerning Domino's Pizza might have you disregarding those midnight munchies.

Pizza is a staple food in college and it's just as necessary as a power cord is for your laptop. Sure, you can last a decent amount of time without it, but why not put it to use if it's there? Domino's is conveniently located across the street from our school, offers a number of different menu options, is affordable, and more importantly, tastes good.

But what if I were to tell you that the pizza you ordered last weekend had been tampered with? Last Wednesday, two Domino's Pizza employees of Conover, North Carolina were charged with delivering prohibited foods when a YouTube video was released depicting one of the individuals preparing sandwiches in a way that was not only disgusting, but severely violated health-code standards.

The so-called "prank" included putting cheese up his nose as well as deliberately putting nasal mucus in the sandwiches. The other employee filmed the making of the tainted sandwiches, saying into the camera, "In about five minutes it'll be sent out on delivery where somebody will be eating these, yes, eating them, and little did they know that cheese was in his nose and that there was some lethal gas that ended up on their salami. Now that's how we roll at Domino's."

Once the video made its debut on YouTube, it exploded on the Internet, repulsing viewers and immediately placing the Domino's brand in jeopardy as a result of the actions of some careless employees. Consumers can no longer trust that their food is being prepared in safe hands, and consequently, it won't be surprising if Domino's fans rapidly become Pizza Hut converts, which will ultimately hurting the restaurant chain.

What is truly bothersome about the Domino's incident is that it raises the question, if this is happening in a small southern town, where else is it occurring?

Andrea Dombkowski, a former employee of Dunkin Donuts, remembers when a co-worker "dropped a bagel on the dirty kitchen floor and put it back with the other bagels to serve to the customers."

"Sometimes my co-workers would go from working at the sandwich station, and then go straight to the cash register to accept money, and then go back to the sandwich station. I found that unfair to the customers," Dombkowski said.

However, others believe that the problem does not lay among the employees, but rather the individuals responsible for management. Chuck E. Cheese employee Rachel Madariaga acknowledges that "gross things" occur such as finding insects in the cheese shakers during the summer.

"I have often found that management does not actually make it practical or even possible for sanitary conditions to be met. It is also evident that nobody who creates company policy actually has ever worked in lower level positions," Madariaga said.

In other words, the people who create health codes are not actually in the kitchen when your hamburger is being assembled sans gloves or when you pull through the drive-through to get your doughnut, which was leftover from the day before. Where, you may ask, are the supervisors and managers during this? Obviously, they're not bothering to look.

The recent Domino's episode should serve as a wake-up call for restaurants and businesses alike. With their reputation being compromised, Domino's is now facing a major public relations catastrophe, and is going to have to find the answers to some very infuriated customers who want confirmation that the food they are eating is safe and sanitary.

While the PR representatives have some serious damage control to keep themselves busy, I applaud Domino's U.S.A. President Patrick Doyle, for his quick response to the situation, public apology, and effort to regain the trust of consumers. Although a small population of people is likely to boycott the brand, people love their pizza, and will continue to purchase food from the chain. Nonetheless, whether it is Domino's or any other local pizzeria, I, for one, will be thinking twice the next time I bite into a slice.