When you make a sandwich, do you do it with gloves-or your bare hands. And do you expect gloves when someone makes your food for you in a restaurant? A new law in California that went into effect in January but won't be enforced until July requires chefs and bartenders to keep their bare hands off of food that's going straight onto a diner's plate or in their drink glass, according to NPR.
So what's the big deal? Restaurant owners are arguing that the new policies, which require chefs and bartenders to wear gloves or use utensils to handle food, generate unnecessary waste and disrupt hand-washing routines. In addition, higher-end restaurants argue that the new policy might undermine transparent kitchen-to-plate practices, according to NPR.
Many opponents argue that the new policy is better suited for fast food chains rather than high-end restaurants, according to ChicoER. When the law first went into effect January 1, in fact, chefs gathered over 18,000 signatures in a petition against the glove law, according to the LA Times. Just two months later, the chair of California's Assembly Health Committee, Richard Pan, proposed legislation to repeal the law. For now, though, it seems as if the law is standing.
The chefs, though, have a point. If gloves aren't changed regularly, they can also spread contaminants to food. It's a matter of washing hands and making sure things are clean.
"The bigger picture is whether businesses know what the risk factors are and how to control them," said Ben Chapman, assistant professor at the North Carolina State University who studies restaurant hygiene, in an interview with NPR. "Having a policy doesn't mean it actually works...Prove to a patron that your people wash their hands all the time and the right way."
For now, it looks like the glove law will continue. Whether enough restaurants can act against it, though, remains to be seen.
