Red Flags To Look Out For At A Deli, According To A Sandwich Expert

Delis are wonderful places to pop into and get fresh meats, salads, bread, ready-made sandwiches, cheeses, soups, and even desserts. In fact, most of us believe that subs taste better from a deli than they do at home. Plus, delis offer more choices than you would find in your local supermarket's mini version of a deli, and pride themselves on bringing those choices to their customers with freshness and convenience. Or at least they should.

Unfortunately, some delis don't quite make the cut, and you'd be better served — and safer — swinging by the supermarket's deli section than making a special trip to get what you believe is über-fresh and high-quality produce from the deli. Instead, you might be stepping into a dirty, unsanitary environment where neither the store nor the food are treated with the utmost care, leaving you, the customer, open to all kinds of nasties and, in the worst-case scenarios, food poisoning.

Knowing the red flags to look out for when you enter a deli can save you from purchasing food that's gone bad because it hasn't been stored in the correct manner, or is kept in an environment that is conducive to food spoiling. From dirty windows before you even walk into the outlet to food that looks a bit slimy or off-color, we got the low-down from sandwich expert Michelle Wallace, owner and founder of B'tween Sandwich Co., on the top red flags to note before you take the time to browse the various Italian meats at your local deli, or hand over your credit card to the teller at the payment terminal.

Wallace says that a long menu is one of the first deli red flags to look out for. "This would suggest to me that they are using pre-packaged and/or frozen ingredients," she says. When a menu has loads of options on it, it means that the kitchen always has to have the ingredients for those dishes available in case someone orders them. And, as with any perishable ingredients, after a certain amount of time, they start to spoil. Conversely, frozen ingredients can be kept for a lengthy period of time and defrosted when needed, making them practical but not fresh — and freshness is generally what a deli is known for.

Also, keep in mind that in the course of being harvested, frozen, packaged, and delivered to the deli, frozen foods may have been exposed to temperature and light fluctuations, and even had unintentional exposure to oxygen. These elements make frozen foods susceptible to bacterial growth and spoilage, which can be hazardous to your health. After all, freezing only slows bacterial growth and keeps food safe if a cold enough temperature is consistently maintained. Since this is challenging, frozen foods often have artificial preservatives added for longevity — and that's also not great for your health.

What's more, pre-packaged foods are often highly processed, whether they're sliced meats or baked items, which means they often contain more chemicals and artificial ingredients in them to help retain freshness for longer. This can affect the nutritional value of the products as well as the taste — never mind the additional sugar, salt, and fat that often has to be added to make up for the lack of flavor. Some research has even linked ultra-processed foods to cognitive decline.

Another red flag is seeing pre-sliced meat on display. "Again, this would suggest frozen or pre-packaged goods, a lack of freshness, and dry meat," says Wallace. When meat is sliced, it leaves more surface area exposed to the air, and bacteria present in the surrounding environment have more time — and surface area — to settle on the meat and contaminate it. No matter what, it's always a good idea to brush up on how to tell if deli meat has gone bad.

The most common bacteria found in deli meats is listeria, and a 2019 Consumer Reports survey that tested 133 samples of pre-sliced meat across New York City delis found two of them with the listeria bacteria present. One was a strain that was traced to a listeria outbreak that landed eight people in the hospital for food poisoning and resulted in one fatality. To put that into a broader perspective: 90% of people who contract listeria have to be hospitalized, and one in every five of those dies. Case in point, the deadly 2024 Boar's Head deli meat listeria outbreak that was deemed the worst in over 10 years.

The same consumer survey revealed that these pre-sliced cold cuts are often filled with nitrates and nitrites, which help with preservation and flavor (two things often lost when processing meat). But they can also lead to interactions with the protein in the meat, which likely causes cancer. In addition, cold cuts often have artificial colorants in them, as well as high amounts of sodium — and these additives can both pose quite significant health risks.

Let's talk about overall cleanliness. Wallace says that "from the bathrooms to the dining tables to the kitchen, things should be clean." Cleanliness should be a number one priority for delis, as any dirt is a magnet for bacteria to move on in, and that bacteria tends to spread — eventually reaching the food and the equipment that is used to prepare it. It's often believed that if a bathroom — one of a restaurant's biggest germ hotspots — isn't kept spotless, then the rest of the establishment follows suit.

That also goes for any glass, light fittings, electronic display boards and signs, fans and air vents, and, of course, the food equipment itself. Glass is like the eyes — the windows to the soul — and if a deli has mucky glass, whether it's the shopfront glass or display cabinet glass, then it's likely a window to the not-so-clean and healthy environment and potentially contaminated food inside. Meanwhile, the higher-up elements like your light fittings, electronic menu boards, and aircons are often not even thought of in the cleaning regime. 

But dust gathers there quickly and easily, along with food particles in steam that rises then settle on these surfaces, becoming mini hotspots for bacterial growth. Also, take a good look at the floors. A dirty floor is a sign that staff aren't particularly perturbed about the cleanliness of their space. Because floors have high foot traffic, with those feet dragging in all kinds of dirt and germs, they have to be kept spotless and sanitized to prevent any of that dirt from transferring to the food.

Wallace suggests that you take note of how busy a deli is in peak times. "A great deli will always be busy, especially at lunch time," she says. Restaurant (or deli, in this case) psychology suggests that if an eating establishment is busy, then it must be good. Meaning, it offers fresh and desirable food, a pleasant environment, and exceptional service that make it popular and keep customers coming back. However, the opposite is also true. In today's times, especially, where customers are more particular than ever about where they spend their money, they're not going to throw hard-earned dollars at a deli that doesn't serve consistently good-quality food with attentive service. 

It should ideally also offer value for money, have increasingly locally-sourced ingredients and/or dishes (meaning it's supporting the community), take customer health into consideration, be quick and convenient, and have some kind of international flavor offerings. All of these elements play a role in drawing customers to a deli, especially at those peak hours like lunch time where they need to pop out quickly during their lunch break to grab a bite to eat before heading back to their afternoon shift at the office. If a deli isn't pulling in customers during what should be the busiest times, take that as a red flag.

And finally, there is the staff contingent. Employees are the faces of the deli's brand, so you expect to see staff members alert and available when you step into the deli. Failure to properly greet and serve customers indicates that the level of care for the deli as a business isn't where it should be, which filters into care for the different elements of the deli — from the kitchen and the foods prepared there, to its general cleanliness. In fact, most of these health code red flags you shouldn't ignore at a restaurant relate to staff actions and behavior.

Deli employees should also be knowledgeable about all of the dishes offered at the deli and the ingredients that go into them. Staff members should be properly trained in their respective areas of expertise and responsibility at the deli, and able to answer any questions that a customer may have. This is particularly important when it comes to preventing foodborne illnesses and being aware of dietary restrictions. 

If a customer has diabetes or a severe allergy to nuts and nut products, for example, the food server behind the counter — or at least the food service manager on duty — should be fully aware of products that may contain high levels of sugar or traces of nuts. Food handlers should also be trained in the relevant aspects of food safety to ensure that the ingredients purchased for the kitchen, and how the foods are made, are compliant with regulatory requirements. This includes wearing the proper attire, such as hair nets and gloves, as well as how to store, work with, and safely serve all food items offered.