I work in Kroger manufacturing, where they make the 1/4 and 1/8 sheet decorated cakes (the ones that all look alike, not the special orders you can place at the store bakery). You don't want to buy these cakes. They sit around and are handled harshly. They treat their employees in this department so badly the workers don't care about the cakes or what happens to them in the manufacturing process. Over 30 people are involved in making one cake, and many of them are always sick due to mold, temperature extremes and other factors in the plant. Many cakes should be thrown out, but will be reprocessed several times due to obsession over production, rather than quality.
The floor in this department is usually covered in garbage, and many people drop things and then pick them up without washing their tools or hands, despite being told to do so. I have seen some workers pick icing up from the floor from a spill because they are running short and need it rather than go to the trouble to get new. Much of the metal pipes and hoppers that the icing flows through is barely rinsed on a regular basis. It is acceptable to wash machinery and other things in water no hotter than 130 degrees without soap or sanitizer of any kind.
If you must buy a cake from Kroger, special order it from the Bakery. It will cost no more than a pre-packaged cake. We are constantly being threatened that the stores are going to drop orders for pre-made, as it is of such low quality. Please help phase out this stale and suspect product.
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