Visit from the Health Department

We recently got one of the crackdown inspections, things are getting very tough, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to operate under some of the more extreme standards. The gloves issue is a killer because not only does it greatly reduce efficiency and speed of service, but it increases overhead. Next time it takes a few for your entrees to come out, consider the number of glove changes each staff member has to go through to get your food to your table. We always use gloves when handling and preparing our food, but the constantly switching is madness. We also subscribe devotedly to hand washing procedures.

Many of the rules and regulations are very unrealistic in the real world. I'm not talking about storing the marinara next to the bleach or tossing your raw shrimp and chicken together, I'm talking about the minutiae that drive you to drink. I think the majority of chefs and restaurant owners want to handle food safely and protect their customers. I don't think many are out to serve spoiled or unsafe food. But since there is always that jackass who is going to drop your steak on the mat and then back onto the grill, my bald employees now have to wear hairnets to keep their errant hair and perspiration (explain that one) out of the food... Don't worry, the eyebrow hairnets are next....

There has to be some reason in there somewhere....

We will always comply with state and federal regulations and work with the health department to ensure that we are always serving the safest, best food we can, but we don't have to like every last bit of it or pretend like it makes sense.

If you were asking me for a link to the last class, no, I don't have one. My inspector gave me a piece of paper, which I threw out a couple of days ago, after I registered for the class and had the reminder on my calender. I'm sure if you call the HD, they can sign you up.

I complained on this forum about the new use of gloves for everything, and got plenty of back and forth on the pros and cons of the situation. Our inspection was very late in coming, so we were walking on eggshells (not literally, that would be a C i'm sure) until it happened. The health dept is very short staffed, and one guy busted his ankle or something, then believe it or not the big art fair pulled all the staff to St james.
Long story short, El Mundo received a 98. Well before that, and at tremendous cost to us we installed an additional hand sink and a mop sink. We had long been using tongs to touch cut fruit so that was no biggie.
I just had to get used to latex gloves and tongs. Meh. My feeling is as long as the cleanliness of an establishment is good (kitchen and otherwise) I wouldn't worry about all these particulars as a customer. I am very happy to see that if a kitchen gets a C they don't get to whip it into an A. It's just not fair to the folks that bust there a** every day.
As a PS, the health dp guy loved our new huge walk-in. We'd been playing Jenga stocking the previous one.

We got a 95 and were happy as clams. I won't argue any of the pros and cons of the new regulations, just let me say with over 25 years in the business my nose has never lied to me once. Of course that doesn't cover all the bacteria and such, but it sure comes in handy, that and a few zillion taste buds. Let me see, drink on the counter before opening...oh, I forget..not going there! Bill Shady Lane

I am very happy to see that if a kitchen gets a C they don't get to whip it into an A. It's just not fair to the folks that bust there a** every day.

I agree iff all of the violations that generated a "C" were reasonable. I was given a C once because my margarine (you know, that stuff that bacteria cannot grow on and only cultures mold after like 90 days at room temperature) was being held at 130 degrees not 135 (consequently, when checked 10 mins. later in the same exact spot it was 145). I have also been given a "C" because of a very minor drip coming from the pipe beneath my 3 comp sink (which was fixed within 30 mins. of the notice). How a minor drip below a 3 comp sink compromises my customer's safety, I am yet to figure out.

Again, we are not talking cross contamiation or Jethro sneezing in the salad dressing. A "C" is the Scarlet Letter (literally) of the food industry and a hard thing to live with, even for 10 days. I think a more realistic look into what constitutes such a violation is called for. I bust my ass every day, but don't think it is fair to be tagged with a "C" for things that seem a bit unreasonable.

Note to self....time to invest heavily in cutting board and latex glove companies!

I have yet to work in any industry where those being regulated felt the regulators were "reasonable".

It doesn't help for food preparers to wear gloves if they have the same bad habits - touching their face, coughing into their hand - that they do without the gloves. I would rather see a push towards making people aware of poor hygiene habits than a reliance on gloves.

I wouldn't be surprised if wearing gloves puts the idea of "clean" into some peoples' heads and makes them less careful about what they touch and about handwashing.

I think the glove rule is absurd. All of my bartenders and I are meticulous about washing our hands, I don't see how I could possibly comply with the glove regulation on a busy night when I've got to make 10 drinks for the server well and have 6 other orders for my guests in my head. I'm really not happy about this. I don't see how gloves make any difference at all over properly washed hands. And besides, I'd be totally creeped out sitting at a bar talking to some bartender that's constantly putting on a new pair of rubber gloves.

As a customer the glove thing is absurd. In fat there have been times I've told people not to even worry about the gloves. What good is an immune system if you dont use it?

A quick read of the new code leads me to believe that under certain circumstances the glove requirement for RTEs can be waived. No idea if those waivers make sense or are at all practical.The HD website lists an informational presentation the new code on December 15.
I'm a bit surprised that with less than 30 days to go before full implementation, a number of people seem to have been caught off guard.

I was caught off guard mainly because my certification is up next spring (hence it's been 3 years since I've been through the "training") and because throughout my experience with food few of these new items have really been all of that pressing or have made any damn sense. I was given a paper listing these new hassles a few months ago during an inspection of another store, but outside of that, to my knowledge there hasn't been much effort to educate or raise awareness.

I'll take well washed hands over gloves any day.

My customers are coming in for containers- this is not a new rule, but one that is finally being enforced: no reusing of disposable quart containers, no more reusing 5 gallon buckets that came originally with your icing, pickles, etc. A big one is lids, they are counting off for plastic-wrapped and foiled lids, and while yes, labeling has been mandatory, in the real world, many a closing line cook who is opening in the morning and knows what butter looks like have forgone labeling. 'Sthe real world, pretty or not. So that will also be a sticking point, for chefs trying to enforce on their line especially.

I've also had requests enough to start carrying cutting board non-skid pads, based on customers claiming the inspector required them.

Leah, that hand-washing log sounds crazy, much less enforcement of one that could be pencil-whipped!

This is not confirmed, but I have also heard that bleach will no longer be allowed in place of chlorine tablets. And yes, people do use bleach.

I USE BLEACH!

Cheap. Effective. Convenient.

We have completely gotten rid of the long cutting boards we used to have on line in the kitchen. As soon as you get a "cut" in the cutting board or a spot melted by a hot pan, you are now required to dispose of said board. This can become very expensive and a bit hard to avoid as cutting boards are used mainly to... you guessed it, CUT. I think one of the other new focuses is a bit odd as well. The HD wants to use freezing more heavily as the preferred method to combat parasitic fish. This means that certain tuna species, some wild salmon, etc... are actually frozen and not fresh before consumption. I have been wondering how the sushi establishments have dealt with this.