Delivery Drivers Eat Your Food!

Do you ever have food delivered by one of those independent delivery services, like Uber Eats or Skip The Dishes? Ever wonder if the delivery person snacked on your order along the way? Recent calls to an Aussie call-in show seem to indicate the problem is worse than we thought…

An elevator security cam caught this Pizza delivery driver eating toppings off a customer
Pizza he was about to deliver. Who can you trust? Probably, nobody…
(Video courtesy CNN)
Popular radio host Zach Mander broached the subject of delivery staff cheat-eating on his show one day last week and was surprised by the number of folks who called in to report that they either were sure or at least strongly suspected that a delivery driver had snacked on their orders at one time or another. What amazed him, though, was the number of current and former delivery drivers who called in to say they had done the deed. Some of them admitted to having nibbled regularly on orders which had been entrusted to their care.

By the sound of the partial transcript of the show I read, it seems that, while customers were aghast, but delivery people thought it was all a big – though gross – joke.

When asked by Mander if he had ever sipped on a customer’s beverage, one arrogant errant driver boasted, “Hell, yeah!”

More than a joke, or simple pilferage…

Mander appears to have concentrated on the dynamics of the problem – how widespread it is and how common an occurrence. But I want to delve into what I see as more important issues related to delivery driver cheat-eating.

First, this sort of pilferage is totally unhealthy! What if the driver who touched your food or exposed your beverage to his or her saliva while they handled your food had a communicable disease? The implications are huge!

What about the ethics and mortality of cheat-eating? Would you want someone who does that working for you? I’d wonder what else they’re stealing or concealing. Or lying about.

You know, those who deliver Pizzas (mostly) for most of the one-off or regional Pizzeria chains. The kid next door. The student working his or her way through college. How many of them cheat-eat?

What can be done?

First, as some resto chains have already realized, is that you can simply seal food orders closed in such a way that any tampering would be apparent to the customer on receipt. Stapling the bag shut or using adhesive seals that self-destruct when you try to open them are just two techniques  already being used by some food providers to prevent pilferage. I’ve even received a Pizza where the box had been stapled shut.

The consensus seems to be that the foodservice industry is trying to eliminate the problem, though there’s little evidence to indicate that the delivery services are doing anything proactive to catch, much less punish transgressors.

My personal contribution to an overall solution…

I’ve started asking delivery people who come to my door if they’re aware of the problem of delivery driver cheat-eating. They usually admit they know it goes on – but, of course, none will ever admit to doing it. I always end the conversation with a question: “I wonder how those cheating drivers would feel if someone sampled their supper on the way to their house?”

When my delivery driver du jour turns white and goes all goggle-eyed, I know I’ve got a cheater!

~ Maggie J.