Food Ethics in Restaurants: Ensuring Quality for Customers - Essay Sample

Introduction

Ethics are codes of conduct that are acceptable in doing a particular job or handling specific issues in an organization. Food in restaurants requires strict adherence to ethics since people consume what is being produced. The restaurant should not only focus on having ethics on food that is being cooked but also the one that is being returned by customers. Food or beverage can be replaced when a customer is given a different recipe from the one they wanted, or in case the food was stale and seemed unhygienic (Thienhirun, & Chung, 2017). There are two ethical ways of handling returned food in relationship to McDonald's approach.

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One of the ethical approaches toward the returned food is through understanding the customer who retunes. Customer spends their money on purchasing food. Hence, it is only noble for an organization to realize that it is the loss of the organization if the customer is not given the food wanted or the stale one. Therefore, customers should be treated with respect, and the organization should make sure that they claim it is understood, and they are served to satisfaction. Additionally, it is ethical for the organization to ensure that customer frustrations are taken care of. McDonald's have two policies on how to treat customers who return their food. The customer is given two options, either refund or the return of their diet. It is up to the customers' opinion on what they need, and in both cases, the organization does this instantaneously as soon as the food is returned to the retail shop (MacDonalds 2018). However, the organization does not pay the shipment cost to the organization.

The other ethical approach is dealing with food. The returned food should not be re-sold again to another customer, even if it was initially a wrong order done. Food being sold should be clean and healthy for consumption. Therefore, it should only be handled by employees who qualify to cook and serve it. Thus, for the health of the customers, food returned should be dumped irrespective of their return state, either good or bad. However, before dropping, the organization should focus on establishing what the problem was and how to deal with it. For example, if the food was stale before the real date of expiry, then they should establish the reason for such a situation.

McDonald's has a quality control lab that assures the product sold to the customer is of high quality and meets the expected standards. This office is also responsible for determining the reason why food was returned while evil at the early stage. Generally, the office is responsible for determining if it was a parking problem, cooking problem, or delivery issues. This approach helps in solving possible future related scenarios and also making sure that the customers eat hygienic food. Finally, the food disposals process should be environmentally friendly and respecting the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

Conclusion

In conclusion, for one to be ethical in food returned by the customers, they should understand the customer, protect the future customer from the events, and protect the environment. McDonald does this by having a quality control office, the refund and product change front office, and also through ensuring the best approach in food disposal. Therefore, other organizations must follow this example and help to provide healthy food and beverages to everyone.

Reference

McDonald's (2018). Retrieved From: https://mcdonalds.knoji.com/questions/does-mcdonalds-offer-free-returns-whats-their-exchange-policy/

Thienhirun, S., & Chung, S. (2017). Influence of list of values on customer needs, satisfaction, and return intention in ethnic restaurants. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 26(8), 868-888.