Shocking survey shows nearly 30 percent of delivery workers have taken a bite out of your food

A new survey by US Foods estimates that more than one quarter of delivery workers have snacked on a meal before dropping it off to its rightful owner.

The survey was intended ‘to understand the habits and pain points of consumers who use popular food delivery apps,’ but instead revealed troubling behaviors in the on-demand delivery industry. 

It turns out an estimated 28 percent of deliverers admitted to stealing a bite from orders they were taking to customers, while only 21 percent of customers had suspected that had happened to them.

In the survey of both delivery workers and customers, US Foods polled 2,015 Americans to find out what’s really going on when people order in.

People in the survey were asked, ‘If you ordered a burger and fries, and the deliverer grabbed a few fries along the way, how upset would you be?’ 

Respondents were asked to rate their reaction on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘no big deal’ and 10 being ‘absolutely unacceptable.’

The average response was an 8.4, clearly skewing toward people being more upset than neutral when it comes to food theft. 

The results revealed 28 percent of deliverers admitted to stealing from orders, while only 21 percent of customers had suspected that had happened to them

This is not the kind of thing people are willing to take a chance on, as evidenced by 85 percent of those survey saying they would like restaurant to use tamper-evident labels on deliveries to make sure every bite makes it into their mouths. A file photo of takeout is shown

This is not the kind of thing people are willing to take a chance on, as evidenced by 85 percent of those survey saying they would like restaurant to use tamper-evident labels on deliveries to make sure every bite makes it into their mouths.

This wasn’t among the top complaints listed by customers, however.

The biggest concern was food arriving not warm enough or seemingly not fresh, which 17 percent of people flagged as a consistent irritation.

Late deliveries was next, reported by 16 percent of respondents, followed by 12 percent being bothered by incorrect orders.

On the deliverers side, 60 percent of the people getting the food to its final destination complained about not being tipped properly, if at all.

They also don’t like it when your food comes late with 52 percent saying items not being ready on time at the restaurant was a repeat concern.

And about those incorrect orders, 39 percent of deliverers said they were consistently irritated by unclear instructions from customers in the app. 

This wasn’t among the top complaints listed by customers, however. The biggest concern was food arriving not warm enough or seemingly not fresh, which 17 percent of people flagged as a consistent irritation

According to the survey, the average person had two food delivery apps, and goes back and forth between using the two. 

The most used apps were Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates, in that order. 

US Foods is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States. 

The company provides both food products and technology services to approximately 250,000 restaurants and foodservice operators across the country. 

The company also operates 14 food processing facilities.

According to the survey, the average person had two food delivery apps, and goes back and forth between using the two. The most used apps were Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates, in that order. US Foods is a leading foodservice distributor in the United States