Should restaurant employees (kitchen staff) wear vinyl gloves?

[DCal430]

But they do handle your food! If you only knew what goes on in the back of a lot of restaurants it would shock you.

Most restaurants are filthy. The only time they are not is when the food inspectors are going to visit.

are they not random?

 

[Brainonska511]

In California most chefs and cooks DO NOT wear gloves and any attempts to require such has been blocked due the efforts of the restaurant industry. Just so you know when you dine out in California your chef could be touching your food with the hands he used to wipe you know what.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssktVpcv9WI

 

[MongGrel]

I did the food industry too. Costumers better be seeing gloved hands.

That in itself convinces me never to eat out at a restaurant again, on reflection.

And I do not mean the gloves.

 

[Raduque]

In Nueces and Midland counties here in Texas, gloves are required when handling food. Food service permits are required in Nueces, but not Midland county.

Whatever county the store I'm training at now is in (Bryan/College Station TX) doesn't seem to require either.

I like using gloves to keep food off my hands mostly - like when handling greasy foods or flour (hand-breading fried items) or for covering wounds. IMO, there's not much difference between skin and plastic when it comes to food handling. I think it's worse when wearing gloves, because they give a false sense of cleanliness. I know many people in the industry at the places I've worked that use gloves and feel they don't have to change them.

 

[Mai72]

are they not random?

I guess that would depend on the area. Where I lived food inspectors would schedule visits, so you always knew when they would show up.

We had a Mexican restaurant that was reusing rice from people's plates. When the dishes were going back to be cleaned the dishwashers were scrapping the rice off customer plates to be reused. Nasty.

 

[OverVolt]

In California most chefs and cooks DO NOT wear gloves and any attempts to require such has been blocked due the efforts of the restaurant industry. Just so you know when you dine out in California your chef could be touching your food with the hands he used to wipe you know what.

Yea on the exterior of the food and then its instantly vaporized the moment it lands in the oven or a hot plate or concentrated salt or concentrated fats or concentrated sugars.

 

[DCal430]

Yea on the exterior of the food and then its instantly vaporized the moment it lands in the oven or a hot plate or concentrated salt or concentrated fats or concentrated sugars.

They handle food even after it is cooked you know.

 

[DrPizza]

"popped"
How the hell does a glove that you're wearing "pop?" I think you're doing something wrong.

 

[styrafoam]

Pretty sure that gloves are part of the additions to federal food safety standards brought on by the peanut butter/salmonella outbreak 5 years ago. They aren't a law yet but if my memory is clear on the topic they will be in the near future.

 

[eelw]

Gloves mean nothing. Was at a Quizino's. Lucky my order was already placed. But new server came back from break. She grabbed her new pair of gloves. So standing there with her hands held up, she scratched her hair. At least at the pizza place where they don't use gloves, they always go wash there hands after handling cash and go back to make the pizza.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Sue happy Americans. I went out to a Japanese all you can eat buffet last week in Bangkok. We prepped our own food. We had a grill for cooking our meats, and a pot for cooking our soup. And all of this goodness was on our table.

Try to do that in America. You can't because someone would do something stupid, get injured and would want to sue.

You are incorrect. I'm guessing you've never been to a Korean BBQ or Hot Pot place in the US.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I've started wearing gloves when handling raw pork or chicken in my kitchen at home. As soon as I'm done handling the raw meat they gloves are discarded and I do not touch anything else.

 

[OverVolt]

They handle food even after it is cooked you know.

Meh when you handle a ton of something in one day your hands feel more like food or whatever than your own hands. Like when I was a cashier as a teen my hands were dried out from handling the cardboard of packages for 8 hours straight. I'd imagine they were pretty sterile. I get the same feeling when I mix lots of ingredients with my hands as the recipe calls for it.

People are sweaty in the kitchen it probably falls in the food... who cares. Anything above 10% salinity is going to kill bacteria... the UV light kills bacteria... the heat kills bacteria... your stomach acid is going to kill them anyways... etc.

 

[chusteczka]

I didn't realize the use of gloves was becoming regulated for standard use. I couldn't imagine cutting vegetables with gloves on. They may be useful for serving food but a food preparer needs their hands free.

I would rather see a hand washing sink in the food preparation area available for frequent use. Along with peer pressure to ensure workers are seen washing before returning to food preparation work. Even if a worker washes their hands in the restroom, they still need to touch the door on the way out.

Hand sanitizer does not belong in the food preparation area.

 

[trmiv]

Sue happy Americans. I went out to a Japanese all you can eat buffet last week in Bangkok. We prepped our own food. We had a grill for cooking our meats, and a pot for cooking our soup. And all of this goodness was on our table.

Try to do that in America. You can't because someone would do something stupid, get injured and would want to sue.

There is a Korean place like that right near my work....in North Carolina.

 

[smackababy]

When I was helping out in my grandmother's restaurant, I never minded using gloves. I've debated getting some for the home as well. It was just more convenient to be able to hand rub some briskets down and not having to spend 2 minutes at a sink cleaning them before you touch anything else. Remove the gloves, pop on a fresh pair and continue on. Anyone who works in a kitchen that complains the use of gloves is time consumer or a hindrance isn't washing their hands properly to begin with.

Granted, I'm also a guy that doesn't enjoy my hands being particularly dirty.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

this is ridiculous. they passed a gloves rule here in sf and i think they just got rid of it. clammy hands inside gloves are way nastier than someone touchin ur food. also even if a cook goes to the bathroom and doesnt wash his hands before making ur food, his hands are still cleaner than the chicken or beef that was crapping all over itself a week earlier or the veggies that just got pissed and shat on in the field all season by the farm worker who didnt feel like walking to the official bathroon

 

[OBLAMA2009]

There is a Korean place like that right near my work....in North Carolina.

everyone is right, they have korean and mongolian all over the place..except here in america they dont get away with serving spam

 

[Adul]

My mom was in the restaurant business for 25 years. She didn't wear gloves and the reason was she needed to touch the food before she prepared it. We were one of the cleanest restaurants in the area. Everything was bleached at the end of the day. The slicer was torn apart and cleaned. If it was old it was thrown out. Nothing was reused. EVER. Our food was prepped daily to ensure freshness. We even used individual tuna containers while other restaurants used the big restaurant style tuna cans. Tuna goes bad easily, but to save money most people overlook this. If it does go bad they just scoop the slime off the top and reuse the tuna. Nasty!

If you guys only knew just how nasty most restaurants are you would never eat out. I knew people who would even reuse the fries that people didn't eat so they could save money.

I still think we have way to many regulations. Germs aren't going to kill you. This picture was just taken in Bangkok, Thailand. Its how they wash their dishes at the outside food stalls. Can you imagine the soot and car exhaust that must cover the dishes. People eat at the food stalls all the time, and they haven't had an outbreak of deaths.

Street food there is the best to. I need to go back.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Street food there is the best to. I need to go back.

restaurants are way cleaner than they have to be for health reasons. i was in a chinese restaurant recently near closing hours and i was surprised to see them pouring bleach into the sink and soaking the dishes. here in the bay area they have a lot of these steam table restaurants and ive actually seen them throwing that stuff out at the end of the night. i guess thats what they have to do because of the one in a thousand restaurants that might sell week old food and cause food poisoning

 

[silverpig]

Wash, wash, wash. Always be washing.

Clean hands are much safer than the illusion of cleanliness that plastic gloves provide.

THIS.

I am more comfortable when I see staff without gloves.

There is really no difference between your skin and a glove. If you touch raw chicken with a glove, your glove is in the same state as your hand if you touch raw chicken with it.

Making staff wear gloves provides a false sense of safety.

Bare hands, and wash them often. Follow standard food safety procedures (don't touch raw chicken and then plate a cooked dish without washing etc), and you'll be fine.

 

[smackababy]

THIS.

I am more comfortable when I see staff without gloves.

There is really no difference between your skin and a glove. If you touch raw chicken with a glove, your glove is in the same state as your hand if you touch raw chicken with it.

Making staff wear gloves provides a false sense of safety.

Bare hands, and wash them often. Follow standard food safety procedures (don't touch raw chicken and then plate a cooked dish without washing etc), and you'll be fine.

The problem is that you are assuming they wash their hands properly after touching raw chicken. It is far more convenient simply to toss the gloves and put on a fresh pair than the spend 2 minutes washing your hands properly. Cross contamination is a big deal, and I'm sure it happens far more often than you think.

 

[silverpig]

this is ridiculous. they passed a gloves rule here in sf and i think they just got rid of it. clammy hands inside gloves are way nastier than someone touchin ur food. also even if a cook goes to the bathroom and doesnt wash his hands before making ur food, his hands are still cleaner than the chicken or beef that was crapping all over itself a week earlier or the veggies that just got pissed and shat on in the field all season by the farm worker who didnt feel like walking to the official bathroon

Beef is clean. Just sear the outside and you're good.

Chicken can be very dirty because yeah, the crap and entrails get all over the meat during the gutting process.

Veggies do get sprayed with cow shit, so you have to wash them too. Actually, I've read that most e.coli and salmonella incidents come from raw unwashed fruits and vegetables.

 

[BottledWater!]

I prefer my cook staff to wear a full tyvek suit.

 

[silverpig]

The problem is that you are assuming they wash their hands properly after touching raw chicken. It is far more convenient simply to toss the gloves and put on a fresh pair than the spend 2 minutes washing your hands properly. Cross contamination is a big deal, and I'm sure it happens far more often than you think.

It's 30 seconds to properly wash your hands, although there is benefit to shorter washes too.

Most restaurants have everything separated. You'll prep all your raw chicken ahead of time, and will use tongs to throw it in the pan or whatever.

I just feel bad about eating something that someone else had to wear protective equipment to handle.