JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Was it harmless kitchen fun or a serious health risk? Video posted on Snapchat shows employees at the Jimmy John's restaurant at River City Marketplace playing with bread dough, including jump roping with it.
State inspectors who visited the restaurant Tuesday were told the dough was left over and thrown away after the incident. The manager also said the employees involved were fired.
Some people who've seen the video think it’s not that serious, assuming the dough wasn’t going to be used to make a sandwich.
"They’re having a little fun, but maybe it’s just not the right time, so maybe it would worry me a little bit," Brooke Crawford said.
UNCUT: Facebook video of Jimmy John employees playing with dough
Others find the video disgusting.
"That’s disgusting. That’s pretty gross," Latisha Ware said. "I can only imagine what the health inspector is going to do to them."
In fact, Florida regulators were to visit the restaurant Tuesday. They promised to tell News4Jax what they found.
While the video also shows other kitchen high jinks, it was the video with the dough that really caught all the attention.
"I would not like that, and I’m sure the health department didn’t like it either," said Matt Kile, who said he used to own a restaurant. He added that if they worked for him, "They’d be terminated immediately."
Managers at the Jimmy John's location wouldn't talk to News4Jax about it, but franchise owners James and Rebecca Williams issued a statement:
Our investigation confirmed the dough used in the video was immediately discarded after the incident, however we do not condone this behavior from our employees and appropriate action has been taken to prevent this from ever happening again. We have been serving the community at this site for more than four years and will continue to provide only the highest quality and freshest product to our customers."
The Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants inspector issued the Jimmy John's location 17 violations, but only one was of high priority: a food cooler 12 degrees above the 41 degrees specified and lettuce stacked higher than the fill line.