Panda Express Worker Goes Viral After Standing on a Fryer. Then Health Officials Get Involved: ‘This Is Disgusting’
A viral video showing a Panda Express worker standing over an active fryer has prompted a health department investigation and sparked outrage online.
A viral video from a Panda Express in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has drawn widespread criticism after customer and TikTok creator Paul Finger (@wardrogewinter) filmed an employee standing directly above an active fryer while another worker continued preparing food below.
Finger’s footage shows the employee climbing onto the fryer station and using cleaning products to wipe down the exhaust hood above the cooking area. As the employee worked overhead, another worker reached between their legs to place a bowl of food into one of the fryer baskets.
FOX6 News Milwaukee reported that the incident happened in early July at the Panda Express location on Miller Park Way. Finger told Storyful that he witnessed the employee on the equipment while food preparation was still taking place.
Viewers had a lot to say about what they saw
The footage quickly raised food-safety concerns, both because cleaning products appeared to be used above food still being prepared and because it revived memories of an earlier Panda Express complaint involving unusual-looking beef.
The footage quickly prompted questions about the restaurant’s food-safety practices, particularly the use of cleaning products above food that was actively being prepared, a concern that has surfaced before when another Panda Express customer spotted something unusual in the beef. Viewers were especially unsettled by the fact that food preparation appeared to continue while the employee was cleaning directly above the fryer.
Viewers also fixated on the employee’s shoes hanging over the fryer, with one calling the scene “disgusting,” while others were just as alarmed by the idea of dust and cleaning chemicals drifting toward the food — the same kind of hygiene backlash that recently flared around Texas Roadhouse as well.
The Southwest Suburban Health Department, which covers West Milwaukee, said it became aware of the video on August 26 and opened an investigation into the restaurant. Environmental health supervisor Kevin Smith said the department worked directly with Panda Express after learning about the footage.
Smith said the department had received no reports of illness connected to the incident. He also encouraged residents who notice potential food-safety concerns to contact health authorities directly rather than relying on social media or news reports to bring an issue to officials’ attention.
Panda Express confirmed that the incident occurred and said the behavior shown in the video did not meet its food-safety or workplace-safety standards. The company said it retrained employees and reinforced safety procedures at the restaurant and across the surrounding region.
The company did not say whether the employee shown in the video was fired. Its statement instead focused on the corrective measures taken after management became aware of the incident.
FOX6 also reviewed the restaurant’s health inspection records and found previous violations involving food-contact and soiled surfaces, including some repeat offenses. Those records did not list the July incident itself as a violation, meaning the earlier findings should not be treated as an official determination about the fryer incident.
The company has not publicly said whether the employee shown in the video faced any disciplinary action beyond the corrective measures it described.
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