# NOT wearing gloves while preparing food



## shootingstar (7 Apr 2011)

Hi, is there a law here in Ireland stating its not compulsory to wear gloves when preparing food for the public? 

I made a complaint recently about this over someone in the staff canteen & I was told there is no law?????

SS


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## aristotle (7 Apr 2011)

There is hardly a law for this. Look at any chef and you will see they usually do not wear gloves.


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## paddyc (7 Apr 2011)

Once their hands are clean you have no complaint.


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## delgirl (8 Apr 2011)

We recently went to a local upmarket cafe where the owners were plating salads etc. with their hands, handling cash, cleaning tables with cloths which weren't washed in between table wipes.  They didn't wash their hands in between any of these activities.

Awful unhygenic behaviour and we certainly won't go back!


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## Ceist Beag (8 Apr 2011)

paddyc said:


> Once their hands are clean you have no complaint.



How exactly would you know they are clean? As aristotle said, no law against it but from a hygiene point of view it isn't great practice. To the OP, do they also handle the cash till or were these staff only preparing food and nothing else? There isn't a whole lot you can do other than point it out to the canteen manager (and if eating somewhere other than your workplace canteen is an option and you feel hygiene is compromised here then take your business elsewhere).


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## paddyc (8 Apr 2011)

delgirl said:


> We recently went to a local upmarket cafe where the owners were plating salads etc. with their hands, handling cash, cleaning tables with cloths which weren't washed in between table wipes. They didn't wash their hands in between any of these activities.
> 
> Awful unhygenic behaviour and we certainly won't go back!


 

For this type of behaviour I would report them to the food safety authority http://www.fsai.ie/ , handling cash and preparing food without washing hands or wearing gloves isn't acceptable.


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## SlurrySlump (8 Apr 2011)

delgirl said:


> We recently went to a local upmarket cafe where the owners were plating salads etc. with their hands, handling cash, cleaning tables with cloths which weren't washed in between table wipes. They didn't wash their hands in between any of these activities.
> 
> Awful unhygenic behaviour and we certainly won't go back!


 
What's an upmarket cafe?  Seriously though this type of behaviour is rampant. From the cashier in Tesco or the customer behind you coughing and sneezing over your groceries at the checkout. To the breads and foodstuffs being brought to the farmers market in the back of a van. To the barman letting your pint settle on the counter top and the old phart sitting at the bar hocking all over it. MMmmm! Germs.


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## csirl (8 Apr 2011)

Ceist Beag said:


> How exactly would you know they are clean?


 
Same with gloves - gloves are as likely to get dirty as bare hands.


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## huskerdu (8 Apr 2011)

delgirl said:


> We recently went to a local upmarket cafe where the owners were plating salads etc. with their hands, handling cash, cleaning tables with cloths which weren't washed in between table wipes.  They didn't wash their hands in between any of these activities.
> 
> Awful unhygenic behaviour and we certainly won't go back!



I agree that hands should be washed in between all these activities. 

Washing your hands is much more effective than wearing gloves. 

Some people in cafes seem to think that gloves are magic and go from cleaning tables to plating salads with the same gloves on.


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## delgirl (8 Apr 2011)

SlurrySlump said:


> What's an upmarket cafe?


It's a really nice Cafe with leather sofas and a non greasy-spoon menu.

The owners are nice people, but have very obviously never worked in the trade before.

I would imagine they are also contravening all sorts of rules by preparing hot food without any extraction.

The place is open, there's no 'back of house' so you can see everything they're doing from your table.

Unfortunately, those of us who are from a Hotel or Catering background can't help but watch what's being served and how they serve it.  It makes eating out difficult, so most of the time, we eat at home.


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## horusd (8 Apr 2011)

I have to say I'm not a fan of gloves. Staff never seem to change em. Also, Iwas reading somewhere recently that out lack of exposure to germs is undermining our immune systems, so there is such a thing as too much hygiene.


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## AgathaC (8 Apr 2011)

huskerdu said:


> i agree that hands should be washed in between all these activities.
> 
> Washing your hands is much more effective than wearing gloves.
> 
> Some people in cafes seem to think that gloves are magic and go from cleaning tables to plating salads with the same gloves on.


 +1.


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## Stephen75 (8 Apr 2011)

delgirl said:


> We recently went to a local upmarket cafe where the owners were plating salads etc. with their hands, handling cash, cleaning tables with cloths which weren't washed in between table wipes. They didn't wash their hands in between any of these activities.
> 
> Awful unhygenic behaviour and we certainly won't go back!


 
That is unacceptable. They should have washed their hands prior to direct contact with food. Tell the owner he/she would like to know.


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## enolam (13 Jul 2011)

To the OP
There is no law stating that gloves must be worn, There is a law however stating that such places must operate a HACCP system, good hygiene and good housekeeping etc. 
As someone who has worked in various sectors of the food industry I personally feel that wearing gloves are not conducive to good hygiene. Staff are less likely to wash there hands as often with gloves on. Without gloves there is an onus on staff to wash hands in between differnt tasks. 
The wearing of gloves at retail counters and cafes etc is purely for the appearance of it and does not guarantee good hygiene.


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## dahamsta (13 Jul 2011)

sustanon said:


> Thank goodness for the Body's immune system. isn't it great



Well said!


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## ice (20 Jul 2011)

Having worked in various restaurants over the years, some greasy spoon, some upmarket you would be shocked to see some of the goings on in the kitchens ! You would never eat out again


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## Bubbly Scot (21 Jul 2011)

ice said:


> Having worked in various restaurants over the years, some greasy spoon, some upmarket you would be shocked to see some of the goings on in the kitchens ! You would never eat out again



I worked one day in a top class hotel and for years afterwards I was traumatised every time I saw a set of cutlery in a similar establishment.

I worked recently in an establishment where the staff were very good about changing gloves for each customer, never putting the same gloved hand from hot food to cold etc. etc...was a bit disheartening to see the bosses mother wipe round the shop with a manky cloth and then go and tidy up the unwrapped cakes without so much as a glove or a shake under the tap.

Same woman made a sandwich one day then licked her fingers to get a sheet of sandwich wrap for it. 

My daughter bought a sandwich in another shop where the girl serving emptied bins then went straight to making the sandwich she ordered. Being too polite my daughter actually paid for it, walked out and threw it in the bin.

I'd agree, once you've worked in the industry it can make eating out a bit traumatic!


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## JP1234 (21 Jul 2011)

A place I worked the chef forbade the food prep staff from wearing gloves because he said it gave a false sense of hygiene.

Slightly O/T, there is a sandwich shop in town that has biscuits and cakes (unwrapped) placed along the counter top over the sandwich fillings, this is where customers queue up and place orders, the counter top is just below head height for an average adult meaning you are getting people talking, coughing, sneezing and what ever else all over the products. It's amusing the odd time someone buys something from there to see the staff making a point of handling the goods with metal tongues or gloves....


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## SoylentGreen (24 Jul 2011)

In Tesco Stillorgan they have this small table where they stack their "designer" unwrapped bread. It is heaped up one on top the other. The table is much too small. As a result it often ends up falling on the floor where it is picked up and put back on top of the pile only to fall off again and again. You also regularly see people squeezing the bread. One section of the shop I avoid but others don't seem bothered by it or unaware.


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## Mongola (25 Jul 2011)

It really makes you think, doesn't it? We have no idea what is happening in a restaurant kitchen! Let's just hope for the best I suppose when we eat out then!


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