MasterChef Australia: Fans blast contestant after he was spotted committing a 'disgusting act'
Fans have blasted MasterChef Australia contestant Theo Loizou after he committed a kitchen crime on Monday night.
During the high-pressure Mystery Box Challenge, Theo was seen tasting his dish with a spoon and then returning the utensil to stir his saucepan.
The faux pas sent viewers into an uproar, with some taking to social media to blast the fan favourite for dropping the show's high hygiene standards.
'Anyone else notice Theo tasting his purée and then putting the same spoon back into the pot?' one viewer wrote on Reddit.
'I mean… don't tell me I'm the only one! I always catch myself watching out for this and it drives me nuts when contestants do it. Total pet peeve of mine. Yeesh.'
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Another viewer claimed the practice of 'double-dipping' was rife among the contestants on the cooking show.
'They all do it!! And what's with the lack of hygiene when it comes to hair being open or in your face? That's the biggest ick!' they said.
Several users attempted to detail how chefs deal with tasting food while it is being prepared in professional kitchens.
'This is one of the things I notice every year [on MasterChef Australia] that I assume is just due to not many of them having ever worked in a real restaurant,' wrote one viewer on the Reddit thread.
'Chefs usually have a jar of spoons at their work station for testing, each spoon gets used once and then goes in a container of water and over to the dishwashing station when full,' they explained.
Meanwhile, others shrugged off Theo's 'doubling dipping'.
'That pot isn't exactly sitting at room temperature festering. The food will be fine,' claimed one eagle-eyed viewer.
Another fan agreed, adding: 'If the pots were boiling or just at a high heat, it would just be getting sterilised due to the heat.'
Still, the online discussion led to the show's fans letting loose on what they saw as possible hygiene hazards in the MasterChef Australia kitchen.
'It's not just reusing the spoon they've put in their mouths though,' a fan began.
'What about the rings they're wearing on their hands while they're handling foodstuffs or their hair flopping around their face while they cook etc etc.
'Maybe I'm a bit ocd, but I get grossed out about these.'
'For me it's the contestants wearing rings. The spoons is a close second,' agreed another Reddit user.
According to 2024 MasterChef Australia contestant Sumeet Saigal, the cast are informed of the hygiene standards ahead of filming.
'You're always briefed about hygiene and you're always reminded,' she told Yahoo Lifestyle last June.
She said the 'rules' included no 'double-dipping', no re-using of spoons and any food that hits the floor goes straight in the bin.
'Yes, you may have a slip-up now and again,' she told the publication.
'But the thing is, when you compare what happens on the show versus what people don't see happen in commercial kitchens, you're looking at a pretty safe environment.'
She also said that the producers also take extra precautions when it comes to food preparation.
'We actually have very active food teams that stand along the side. So you don't see them, but every bench has got a representative of the food team that stands watching this stuff,' Sumeet explained.
'So they're constantly watching to see that you're not double dipping and anything that falls on the floor is picked up and thrown in the bin, because food hygiene is a very big part of it.'
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