Is Eating at a Buffet a Sin?

[righteousdude2]

That is food for thought ....

Might as well pipe in here.

I don't like buffets. Typically the food is bland, and I imagine it to be something that has been previously frozen. So the quality of food is usually marginal.

But the worst thing about buffets is the very real possibility of getting sick. I've had a high "success" rate at getting sick at buffets so I avoid them. If I must go, I bring hand sanitizer with me and use it just before I grab my fork and start eating.

Think about it--multiple strangers handle the large serving spoons used to dole out the food. These serving spoons are under heat lamps, meaning they are kept at temperatures that will keep bacteria and other bugs active and alive. Suppose the person who uses the serving spoon for the salisbury steak before your turn just got done blowing their nose before walking up to the serving line? Or they used the bathroom and didn't wash their hands. Then they handle the warm spoon. Then you grab it. Then you go back to your table and eat stuff with your now contaminated hands.

Another problem areas are the large serving containers with hinged/roller covers. These containers have sterno candles under them to keep the food warm. You have to grab the handle of the cover and rotate it out of the way to get to the spoon and the food. Guess what? They don't change the covers on these things! They bring in new trays of food that they slide into the containers. The covers are touched and handled by EVERYONE that eats from that container of food, plus the spoon inside. Who knows what germs are thriving on them. Classier places have napkins wrapped around the handles of these covers, but most places do not.

Just some food for thought for everyone.

.... my brother and his wife were one of hundreds that got food poisoning on a ship crise last summer! However, I am concerned about the healthiness of food more than ever. We had some chicken that was recalled, and it was in our freezer.

No freezer didn't catch salmonella, but had we not written the dates of purchase, brand name and best if used by date on the wrapping material, we'd never have known those two packs [divided from one larger pack] were recalled!

What I am saying is, it does't have to be from eating out, we can get ill from the very food so pristinely wrapped and healthy looking in the stores we shop at!

Maybe it's me, but it seems that we need to be careful no matter what we do....

 

[Rippon]

Sounds like a perfect thread for Mike, i.e. Sat/Nep, to wax eloquent upon.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

The thread title asks if eating at a buffet is a sin.

The poll asks if gluttony is a sin.

Must one who eats at a buffet commit gluttony? Are those two things synonymous?

I like the response above:

Is gluttony sin? - Yes
Is eating at a buffet a sin? - No
Are you overweight? - Somewhat, but I've lost 30+ pounds and I walk about 35 miles a week

 

[Rolfe]

Might as well pipe in here.

I don't like buffets. Typically the food is bland, and I imagine it to be something that has been previously frozen. So the quality of food is usually marginal.

But the worst thing about buffets is the very real possibility of getting sick. I've had a high "success" rate at getting sick at buffets so I avoid them. If I must go, I bring hand sanitizer with me and use it just before I grab my fork and start eating.

Think about it--multiple strangers handle the large serving spoons used to dole out the food. These serving spoons are under heat lamps, meaning they are kept at temperatures that will keep bacteria and other bugs active and alive. Suppose the person who uses the serving spoon for the salisbury steak before your turn just got done blowing their nose before walking up to the serving line? Or they used the bathroom and didn't wash their hands. Then they handle the warm spoon. Then you grab it. Then you go back to your table and eat stuff with your now contaminated hands.

Another problem areas are the large serving containers with hinged/roller covers. These containers have sterno candles under them to keep the food warm. You have to grab the handle of the cover and rotate it out of the way to get to the spoon and the food. Guess what? They don't change the covers on these things! They bring in new trays of food that they slide into the containers. The covers are touched and handled by EVERYONE that eats from that container of food, plus the spoon inside. Who knows what germs are thriving on them. Classier places have napkins wrapped around the handles of these covers, but most places do not.

Just some food for thought for everyone.

Those places are disgusting.

Twenty-something years ago, Mrs. Rolf and I stopped to eat at one of those places. An elderly couple sat down near us with their bowls of soup. She did not like hers, so back into the pot it went.

 

[RLBosley]

This board has some of the silliest topics...

Is it boredom that causes it?

 

[blackbird]

Those places are disgusting.

Twenty-something years ago, Mrs. Rolf and I stopped to eat at one of those places. An elderly couple sat down near us with their bowls of soup. She did not like hers, so back into the pot it went.

I was at a Mexican buffet---across the "Island" from me was someone scooping about 4-5 serving spoons of rice onto their plate---they thought for a second and then raked the rice back into the container

If you're gonna eat at a buffet--the correct way of handling something you have dished onto your plate and then a few seconds later decide you don't want it---is to set your plate down at your table and then go get you a fresh plate----and try again!!!

Wifey and I were at a fast food burger joint here in Alabama and I was watching the fella at the burger grill throw on fresh patties--he dropped one on the floor in front of him---but kept placing the other patties onto the grill---when he finished placing the fresh patties on the grill --- he reached down--picked up the patty he had dropped on the floor and threw it in the trash can beside him----if he had put that patty he had dropped on the floor--onto the grill with me watching him from the corner of my eye---I would have done something to him that would have made Chuck Norris jealous!!!!:laugh::laugh::wavey:

 

[Rolfe]

I do not know if it is generally the case elsewhere, but most vehicles in the parking lot at the local buffet are either full-size cars or vans or SUVs. Rarely do we notice many smaller vehicles or compacts.

From the look of the people going in and out of there, there must be a minimum weight requirement.

 

[HAMel]

We have two restaurants in our area that are buffet' style. We enjoy both of them..., on occasion.

Personally, I was a bit overweight a few years ago but ended up losing 100 pounds. Now-a-days it's really only one meal a day so when it's time to belly-up to the serving line I pig out.

...the only bad thing about it is the next day I'm hungry again.

Eating good tasting food is a blessing. Gluttony, on the other hand, is a different matter.

 

[Crabtownboy]

1. Eating at a buffet is not a sin unless that person uses it in gluttony.
   
2. Gluttony is a sin.
   

 

[annsni]

I do not know if it is generally the case elsewhere, but most vehicles in the parking lot at the local buffet are either full-size cars or vans or SUVs. Rarely do we notice many smaller vehicles or compacts.

From the look of the people going in and out of there, there must be a minimum weight requirement.

OR it could be a family trying to feed their family on a budget and this is their big meal of the day. For me to take my family of 6 out for dinner, it will cost us at least $100 at a modest restaurant and more at a nice place. If I can take them out for $60 at a buffet - and get everyone just the food they want and they can eat to their fill, all the better!

 

[Rolfe]

OR it could be a family trying to feed their family on a budget and this is their big meal of the day. For me to take my family of 6 out for dinner, it will cost us at least $100 at a modest restaurant and more at a nice place. If I can take them out for $60 at a buffet - and get everyone just the food they want and they can eat to their fill, all the better!

I thought of that and knew someone would mention it. Of course, I am sure many do take their families because of the expense. Nothing wrong with that. It was only an observation of the local eatery.

 

[corndogggy]

I was a bit overweight a few years ago but ended up losing 100 pounds.

"A bit". :thumbsup:

 

[corndogggy]

Proverbs 23:2 put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

 

[corndogggy]

Philippians
3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

 

[Revmitchell]

Someone is trying to see how many times they can misuse scripture.

 

[Berean]

Just as drinking is not a. Sin, however drunkenness is. Eating is not a sin but gluttony is and leads to obesity.

 

[corndogggy]

Some folks can't help but be overweight because of their body type. Now, if food and drink are addictions in your life this is a different issue.

Some folks can't help but be overweight because they have a Coke in their hand multiple times a day and don't do enough to burn it off. I'm one of them, I make no excuses in regards to body type. Buffets don't help, I avoid them if at all possible.

 

[corndogggy]

I went to a buffet the other day and sat for several hours whole editing a paper. I ate the whole time. It was great.

I would often go to Ponderosa on Sunday - would get there about noon - and I would stay until about 5 pm.

when it's time to belly-up to the serving line I pig out.

And this is the problem with buffets. People can't just treat them as a normal meal with an infinite number of food combinations, which should be the intention.

 

[Baptist Believer]

There are times for feasting and times for fasting. Neither is sinful and both can honor God.

The difference is your attitude. Are you a slave to your belly or do you receive food as a good gift from God, enjoyed in moderation?

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

C'mon RD2! Can you please post one poll that matches the title of your thread?? :laugh:

:tonofbricks:

To answer the question naming the thread, no. The sin is the overeating, which can be done without a buffet.

To answer the poll, "Yes. No." Your poll question is actually two questions, and those are my answers, which the poll choices don't account for.