In addition, permanent flatware also has to be replaced due to inadvertent disposal or loss.
The presence of non-disposable metal cutlery along with other disposable food-service articles such as plates, cups and the like presents an unusual problem for restaurants and caterers.
The problem stems from the loss of valuable metal cutlery into trash or refuse-containers along with disposable tableware and food remnants particularly during peak business hours and rush situations.
As a result, the food establishment has to constantly replace expensive metal flatware.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,792, to Buford, filed on Aug. 23, 1973, in Column 1, lines 12 to 30 states:—“The food industry has long been plagued with the costly and time-consuming problem of separating valuable reusable items, such as metal tableware from solid waste, such as food, paper and other disposable items.
This problem is prevalent in any food service facility, such as restaurants, cafeterias, schools, prisons, and so on, in which plates must be scraped and/or tableware separated from garbage by hand sorting or by scavenging, and especially in the airline industry where there is no opportunity for sorting in flight.
Even when manual sorting or scavenging is carried out, it has been found that a large amount of tableware is lost.
It is obvious that continued replacement of tableware is not only expensive, but economically wasteful.
Some restaurants have found that most missing tableware is lost, rather than taken by customers, and that such losses run as high as $1,300 on a traditionally heavy day.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,138, to Kustas, filed on Jun. 8, 1981, in Column 1, lines 11-16 states:—“ . . . . As is well-known in the restaurant business, the loss of silverware or stainless steel flatware is a very serious problem which costs restaurant owners large sums of money every year.
The problem stems from careless kitchen help and the manner in which food and debris is removed from used dishes.”
Studies made in restaurant kitchens in hotels associated with several intercontinental hotel chains show that not only an occasional item of cutlery is lost in this way, but even the cutlery used by all the guests at a table may be accidentally tipped into the waste container together with waste food, particularly when the restaurant is busy and the waiter rushed.
Another problem that food caterers encounter is the ability to clean metal flatware utensils at certain locations and outdoor catering events.
In preparation for such circumstances caterers tend to carry a large inventory of expensive metal cutlery.
However, the use of disposable plastic cutlery affects the image of the airline, especially in premium seating and higher priced flights.
Thus, a primary obstacle for use of disposable plastic cutlery in upscale situations is the perception and the image associated with disposable plastic cutlery rather than its performance.
Metallic pigments are known in the art and are commercially available; however, it is the general experience of those skilled in the art that these metallic pigments do not impart an authentic metallic look.
Furthermore, metallic pigments do not provide a plastic cutlery article that emulates the polished silver-like metallic appearance of fine cutlery or silverware.
In fact, almost all commercial plastic tableware or cutlery articles made by utilizing a silver metallic pigment have a dull or grayish appearance.
In addition, some of the formulations for metallic pigments have an odor which is less-than-desirable for a food-service it