With the recent exposes on TV of the shocking health violations and hygiene lapses of all the major fast food chains, it gave me this idea. When you eat at a fast food place, you knowingly give up healthier, tastier and better prepared fare for low price and convenience. You should expect fast, cheap and most of all, clean. Designed with input from the CDC, NASA, and top Japanese automated food prep experts, Burger Kleen is a chain that invites customers to see the state-of-the-art sanitary preparation methods employed. Look into the sealed glass clean room and watch the staff use automated food handling robots, lasers, glove boxes, and clean suits to ensure that germs and critters are kept out as much as scientifically possible and that your order is untouched by human hands. From raw material handling to when your order is in your hand, you can watch a fascinating high speed robotic ballet right out of science fiction. There are many unsanitary elements inherent in the introduction of raw produce into a kitchen and these are handled as well at the supply chain level. The cleanliness theme extends to the rest of the restaraunt for the serving areas, bathrooms and dining areas. All areas are automatically cleaned by laser scanning robotic devices. Even the human staff is scanned for potential diseases daily using methods learned from the recent SARS outbreaks. Even if the prices are a little higher, why take chances on disease when you are trying to grab a meal during your busy day? Burger Kleen is the clean fast food.
-- wombat, Nov 23 2003

Clean I can see, but I'm not sure you'll have the fast and cheap bits covered
-- yamahito, Nov 23 2003


Actually, I'll bet you could make a big conveyor belt that would do all the work quickly with no human hands involved. Bathe the whole thing in intense UV light like an operating room and it'll be sterile too. (Of course you'll need to tint the window on the machine so people can watch without going blind.)
-- Madcat, Nov 23 2003


Wasn't there an idea, a while ago, about an obsessive compulsive themed burger bar? Not that I'm implying redundancy, I was just reminded of it.
-- Detly, Nov 23 2003


/There are many unsanitary elements inherent in the introduction of raw produce into a kitchen and these are handled as well at the supply chain level/ In the future the major chains are going to have to make efforts to better control their suppliers as seen in the news [jutta] The system of food preparation should require less people in general and be flexible to keep a rotation of healthy employees at critical areas.
-- wombat, Nov 24 2003


In the spirit of Jutta’s observations about the need to follow the whole supply chain, why not have a huge in-store TV screen with a live video-link showing the abattoir where the cows are slaughtered? It could show the clean environment in which the spotless staff hack the body to pieces and mince up the flesh for the burgers. An audio channel could reproduce the screams of pain and the mooing of distress from those queuing to die, just audible below the hum of chainsaws. I'm sure the general public would be flocking to eat there.
-- dobtabulous, Nov 24 2003


Tired of Bleurgher King?
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 24 2003


//the general public would be flocking//

That part's baked, [dob]. The nightly news periodically shows graphic slaughterhouse video, ostensibly to display "all the germs".
For this idea to work, you'd need the entire farm in a sterile environment. Include the water, chemicals, perfect cows, insects and microbes (!), migrant workers -- everything. Encase the customers as well, You don't want someone bringing a fried chicken head from home and claiming he found it in the cheese sticks.
-- Amos Kito, Nov 24 2003


Simply exposing the kitchen to the patrons with large windows instead of a wall seems like a good first step. Many non-fast food restaurants already do this for aesthetic reasons.
-- DrCurry, Nov 24 2003


Burger Bot?
Auto-burger?
The Burger Matrix?

The marketing possibilites are endless!
-- Letsbuildafort, Nov 24 2003


When travelling in California, don't forget to stop for a delicious "In-and-Out Booger", as my 3 year old calls it. Actually, these are excellent restaurants (In and Out Burger).
-- pob27, Nov 24 2003



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