I have a “know it all” friend who says that Grilling charcoal briquettes like Kingsford is not supposed to be anywhere near regular grocery store food items such as BBQ sauce, for health inspection reasons. is this true? Would a grocery store get a hit if the health inspector found charcoal near food?
BBQ sauce and most other food items (aside from the fresh fruits and veggies aisle) are generally sealed, and grocery store aisles aren’t exactly sterile as it is. I can’t see why anyone would give two hoots if some charcoal dust ended up on your condiment packages, soup cans, cereal boxes, or most other food items.
I’ve never heard that about charcoal and I’m pretty well connected to the world of BBQ hobbiests.
However, I have noticed signs prohibiting propane tanks anywhere inside the grocery store. This is probably fire code and not food or health related, though.
Ditto, and I’ve seen charcoal over in the aisles, although it does seem to be a front-row item in season.
Most fire codes are leery of propane tanks. We weren’t allowed to put any on a moving truck, with dire warnings about what would happen if we did.
In the store where I shop, charcoal is at the end of the pet food aisle, nowhere near the BBQ sauce.
The BBQ sauce is in an aisle with ketchup, mustard, condiments and salad dressing, which is directly adjacent to the “seasonal” area (currently filled with Easter candy and gifts and toys and other non-food items). So the food safety issue really doesn’t make sense.
reminds me of something I heard as a kid … the 2 reasons the charcoal was up front 1 it fit on the bulk dog food rack and 2 it was easier to notice if it caught on fire and was law in some places
tho it was always funny to see some ones spouse in the old days sitting of a 40 pound bag of kingsford smoking a cigarette while the others were checking out :eek:
It’s all shipped on the same truck.
They’re usually near the checkout where the cashiers can keep their eye on them. The idea being that people are drawn to things that are flammable, and cannot resist lighting them on fire.
Caught on fire?
Have you ever tried to start a charcoal grill?
When a grocery store burns down, the only thing left untouched by fire is the bags of charcoal briquets.
Yeah, I’m literally laughing my ass off at this.
Quick trivia: Kingsford charcoal was originally a product of what American industrial giant? Hint: it’s right there in front of ya.
Ford. It was a byproduct of a system that started with trees and iron ore and turned every scrap into profit.
My grocery store has (inside) charcoal, charcoal lighter fluid, real wood bundles, wood pellets, pressed wood logs, gas stove canisters, and matches all together in the same row.
propane is flammable, gaseous, heavier than air, and collects in enclosed spaces. They don’t want some numpty dragging a leaking tank into the store and potentially, um, opening all of the doors and windows at once.
The materials you listed, on the other hand, are combustible but not flammable.
Same reason propane-fuelled vehicles aren’t allowed in the underground levels of parking garages.
Do not accept birth control advice from your friend.
Well, that Match Light stuff is kind of sneaky, maybe it spontaneously ignites? Keep it out of a sunny window with a goldfish bowl on the sill. :eek:
Literally laughing your ass off? You’d better see a doctor, quickly.
I do often see the small sealed canisters in the store, even the grocery store. I guess they’ll considered less of a hazard, even by the gross.
How are you supposed to get it home?
Maybe you have to have a car? Not a truck.