Latex gloves in the professional kitchen?
Do you feel better when you see employees wearing these? Do they make any difference when it comes to germs? I always worry that food service folks will get lackadaisical about hand washing since they're wearing gloves. And if they don't change the gloves often, well, how is that any cleaner?
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13 Comments:
I laugh because in many situations I think these people think the gloves are for their protection, not ours. I roll my eyes everytime I see a employee working the register of a place with them on. I think great... my money is safe... but my food is in trouble.
I think its like most safe food handling rules, they don't do a bit of good unless the person understands why you are using them in the first place.
Husband at 3:04PM on 02/14/07
It's only the culinary school graduates in the kitchen of the restaurant where I work who wear latex gloves while cooking. I've always found it odd- haven't people been handling food with their bare hands for centuries? Putting an extra barrier between you and the food you are preparing for people to ingest always seems a little iffy. Yet, I am aware of the dangers of food poisoning and outbreaks...
ohtorvald at 3:54PM on 02/14/07
I've worked in open kitchens with and without gloves. I think without igloves s cleaner: we washed our hands much more frequently than we changed our gloves! I feel dirtier when wearing gloves, but it gave people the illusion of safety.
Pastrytroll at 10:39PM on 02/14/07
When I worked in professional kitchens the only time I wore gloves was when I had a serious wound or was working with raw poultry. (I use them at home for handling poultry, too.) Minor burns and cuts/scrapes (a constant for professional cooks) that didn't bleed didn't require coverage. When necessary fingercots are great because you can still feel with the other fingers. Mostly, gloves just made my hands sweaty and felt clumsy. I was always afraid I would melt them onto my hands, too. Plus, hand washing is, truly, more frequent without gloves.
I was always afraid someone would think I hadn't washed my hands when I used the bathroom, so I would wash them once IN the bathroom, and again when I got back to the kitchen. You can't be too careful when it comes to food handling.
Calichef at 9:57AM on 02/15/07
You all seem to be echoing my feelings. It seems more like the appearance of food safety than actual food safety. And when I worked in a kitchen, I hated wearing gloves. It seemed much easier to just wash my hands regularly.
Meg Hourihan at 10:38AM on 02/15/07
Oh, this really bugs me. I work in an open kitchen. I work the pass and expedite food (I run the kitchen handing food between cooks and servers). I plate the salads. One day the woman comes up to our window and screams at me. "You are touching food with your bare hands!" I said, "Uh...welcome to the real world. I just washed my hands and I probably wash them more than you could imagine." She said, "...well I'm going ot call the NYC board of health..." and rattled off some health code that I should know.
But what a load of crap this idea is. Latex gloves. So now I'm going to wear latex gloves for everything in the kitchen? So, whenever I work the pass now I put on gloves and take them off to do other tasks. I end up wasting all this latex and still washing my hands a million times, 'cause latex sucks and eats my hands.
So me...yea..against. Purely to create the felling of safety. I've seen cooks do some things they would never do if they didn't have them on. Like work on chicken and move on to veggies, and not wash their hands. Major false sense of security. ;)
angrywayne at 11:30PM on 02/15/07
I’m not convinced of the fact that vinyl or latex gloves, improves cleanliness in any restaurant. I do know the gloves are awkward, vinyl gloves are nice… if you’re skinning 50 pounds of onions. They prevent my hands from stinking for the next two days.
Proper techniques regarding hand washing for food handles is important. I hope employers enforce, monitor and complement employees of good practice. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY726
However, if a restaurant has a sign in the restroom, reminding employees to wash there hands before returning to work…I don’t return.
I refuse to use an electric hand dryers in any community bathroom, I’m not quite convinced recycled bacteria, in the form of hot air is sanitary. I encourage restaurant/convenience store owners to install paper towels. If you so choose...Think about it!
Peperoni at 3:26PM on 03/17/07
I really hate latex (after being to required to use it in a couple of kitchens), for various reasons already said. It's dehumanizing.
cmballa at 3:51PM on 03/17/07
Except for those onion situations, I totally agree there.
cmballa at 3:53PM on 03/17/07
However, if a restaurant has a sign in the restroom, reminding employees to wash there hands before returning to work…I don’t return.
No return visits to 90%+ of NYC restaurants for you!
Lia Bulaong at 5:18PM on 03/17/07
However, if a restaurant has a sign in the restroom, reminding employees to wash there hands before returning to work…I don’t return.
Well, you won't eat in Oregon much either. The signs are posted by law in the bathrooms of every establishment that serves food.
And gloves are just plain silly. If you wash your hands, as most state laws require, the chances of contamination are minimal.
Jerry at 12:34AM on 03/19/07
I was born in India and ate street food there for years. Then I moved to Africa. Ditto. If anyone is going to get sick from food it's going to be in a country with no hygiene practics and temperatures in the 90s half the year.
I never got sick.
tonbo at 1:52AM on 03/19/07
Thanks Jerry...your correct...my apologies to you and the people of Oregano. I'll keep that in mind when I travel to Oregon or other states that have such a law.
Pepe-roni
Peperoni at 4:18PM on 03/19/07