Now, I famously hate salad bars. I don’t like buffets. 
When I see food sitting out, exposed to the elements, I see food dying. I see a big open petri dish where every passing serial sneezer can feel free to cough, drool, and fondle with spittle-flecked fingers. I see food not held at ideal temperatures, food rotated (or not) by person or persons unknown, left to fester in the open air unprotected from the passing fancies of the general public. Those New York delis with the giant salad bars where all the health-conscious office workers go for their light, sensible lunches? You’re eating more bacteria than the guy standing outside eating mystery meat on a stick.
—Anthony Bourdain, A Cook’s Tour
This is so true!!!! When I go to get a pizza and see all the people eating from the lunch bar, I wonder how they can eat that food that everyone has touched or sneezed on. I remember when my family was young, we use to go to a family dinning place and ate from the buffet. The food was good and we all enjoyed it. That was over 40 years ago and maybe things were different then.
I think maybe 40 years ago people peddling food were more conscious of the fact that food left out for awhile might make the customer sick. Today they’ve either forgotten, or don’t care.