Gloves in the restaurant kitchen: Bad idea?

[Robin Garr]

I've always felt that Metro Health's emphasis on wearing gloves for kitchen sanitation is a bad idea for a variety of reasons, and I'm pretty sure a lot of friends in the business feel the same way. This 2012 rticle from the Washington Post that's making the Internet rounds again today lays it out point by point. Has anyone really pushed back against Metro Health on this, or wondered who benefits from the required sale of latex gloves by the carload?

Looking at it from another perspective, though, is there any reasonable argument in favor of gloves that this article doesn't bring up?

The gloves can come off, as far as I’m concerned

If we pretend that gloves are magical sanitizing tools, then yes, they are a very bad idea.

If we see them as tools that are necessary to help our sanitation program, then no, they are great. I prefer to use gloves when handling raw meats, or tossing cole slaw, primarily from a "I don't want to be super messy" point of view. I wash my hands so many times during a service that it would be impossible to count. Nothing will ever beat good hand washing. Gloves are a single task tool. You use it for a single task, then you dispose of it and get a new pair for the next task. And you wash your hands in between.

The problem with gloves is that they give the consumer a false sense of sanitation. "Oh, that person is wearing gloves, they are handling my food safely." When that is not necessarily the case. I have news for you. The employee that won't wash his/her hands properly, is the same employee that will wear that same glove all day and never change it. They'll wear it to handle money, then your food, then scratch their nose and fix their hair, then wipe it on their apron and go right back to handling that ground beef.

Good hygiene habits are paramount, not whether or not you have a glove on.

I don't think any kitchen should do away with the glove. It can be an effective barrier against contamination. But it does NOT and NEVER SHOULD replace good hand washing practices. That must be first. Good hygienic practices are essential whether you glove up or not.