New York, Dec 24 (THAINDIAN NEWS) USA Today reported that the survey of 800 restaurants across 10 airports revealed very hazardous and shocking results. It found that the tuna salad and turkey sandwiches were stored in warm temperatures, the raw meat was contaminating other ready-to-eat items. Perhaps the most shocking things were that there were rat droppings in the kitchens, which pointed to a persistent rat infestation problem in the restaurant kitchens.

And there were certain kitchens bereft of soap, which spoke of the non-existent standards of hygiene that is prevalent in the numerous restaurants in the airports. “The grab-and-go sandwich problem, it’s a constant battle,” David Jefferson of the Tarrant County, Texas health department told USA Today. The Tarrant County health department inspects food at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Every year, there are 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The biggest store-house of infection and food-poisoning are the grab-and-go sandwiches and other items in the refrigerated cases, which are notoriously warm in comparison to their mandated temperatures, and cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods. So travelers in the festive season need to be aware of these findings and they would certainly be better off, in packing a sandwich from home, instead of buying it from the airport restaurant.