Fan favourite Sumeet Saigal tells Yahoo Lifestyle how the show takes food safety ‘very seriously’ behind the scenes.

MasterChef fans have criticised Theo Loizou’s lack of hygiene in Monday night’s episode. Photos: Channel 10

MasterChef fans have called out one of this year’s contestants after noticing a “disgusting” detail in Monday night’s episode. Eagle-eyed viewers often criticise the cast for any unhygienic acts in the kitchen, whether it’s not wearing a hairnet or using the same utensils to handle meat and vegetables, and it appears this year’s season is no different.

One person has taken to Reddit to share that they spotted Theo Loizou licking a spoon and continue using it during the recent Mystery Box Challenge. The fan favourite, who finished fourth in season 15, was making basil ice cream and masa crumb with chilli and pineapple for the judges and special guest Ixta Belfrage.

“Anyone else notice Theo tasting his purée and then putting the same spoon back into the pot?” the viewer wrote. “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.”

Theo tasted his purée and then put the same spoon back into the pot. Photo: Channel 10

Surprising hygiene rules during filming

2024 contestant Sumeet Saigal tells Yahoo Lifestyle that despite what viewers might think, there are some “pretty specific rules” on MasterChef regarding hygiene.

“You’re always briefed about hygiene and you’re always reminded, ‘No double dipping, no using spoons again, make sure anything that falls on the ground goes in the bin’,” she details. “Yes, you may have a slip-up now and again. 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.”

Sumeet, who is currently working on her own line of sauces to be released at the end of the year, adds that the show employs a large team of people to monitor food safety behind the scenes.

“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,” she continues “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.

“Even things like meat temperatures when you’re doing service challenges, after the clock goes off, people come around and check the meat temperature. It’s very deeply and very seriously considered in the MasterChef kitchen, including washing hands before we start the cook.”

Sumeet says the show takes food safety very seriously. Photo: Channel 10

‘Potential health risk’

Many fans have since taken to social media to criticise Theo’s double dipping in Monday night’s episode, with one person describing it as “the biggest ick”.

“Totally fine if you’re only cooking for yourself, but not if you’re going to serve the food to others. I really don’t want someone else’s saliva in the food I’m going to eat, that’s disgusting and unhygienic and a potential health risk,” another added.

“This is one of the things I notice every year that I assume is just due to not many of them having ever worked in a real restaurant,” someone else remarked. “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.”

Meanwhile, a handful of people argued that it wasn’t that big of an issue because Theo’s purée was still cooking.

“That pot isn’t exactly sitting at room temperature festering. The food will be fine,” a fan shared, with a different user agreeing, “If the pots were boiling or just at a high heat, it would just be getting sterilised due to the heat”.