Comments on: HEALTHY EATING: Being safe while dining out

By: Buffalo

Buffalo — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:45:48 +0000

seriously, we have made it this far. I have seen so many use gloves and not clean ones. I wash my hands all the time and they are cleaner then those in the kitchen with the gloves.

By: GaHomerTracktorMan

GaHomerTracktorMan — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:29:21 +0000

Al lthis food safety talk has me hankering for a little sushi, Eggs Benedict, and a plate full of Komomoto and Hog Island oysters and a tall glass of champagne…..ahhhhhhhhh

By: Waffleboy

Waffleboy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:20:23 +0000

Josh is absolutely right. Gloves give you the illusion of sanitation, not the real thing. I can’t tell you how many times a customer has complained about someone handling raw meat with bare hands, but they’ll have no problem with someone preparing a sandwich with gloves they just used to handle raw, contaminated meat. The law in Georgia does NOT require gloves. The law clearly states no bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods.

As well, you can’t go by health inspection scores. I’ve worked in restaurants in four different counties and can tell you that there is no consistency in the inspection process. Certain counties are tougher(Henry) than others(Clayton). A 90 in Riverdale is worse than and 85 in Stockbridge. If you don’t believe me, take a look around and you’ll see.

The most impportant things to look at are the personal appearance of the staff and the overall santitation of the restrooms and dining rooms. If this looks good, you’re probably going to be okay. And don’t forget, the majority of all foodborne ilnesses occur as a result of food prepared in the home.

By: josh

josh — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:47:25 +0000

Wearing gloves in a restaurant is less sanitary. I worked in restaurants as a server, bartender, and management for years and took many safe food classes. Saying you won’t eat in an establishment that uses bare hands is about as smart as saying that you are gonna drive rather than flying cause it is realistically safer. People change their gloves less often than they wash their hands (hell, i have even seen people at subway take gloves off and then re-use them for the next customer). Gloves may give the wearer a FALSE sense of good hygiene. For example, after preparing food, the handler may carry out the trash (which involves touching contaminated objects) and then return to food preparation – all the time wearing the same set of gloves. Gloves provide a moist warm environment between the glove and hand for pathogens to multiply if the hands are not washed and gloves changed regularly. Gloves can harbor pathogens. The surfaces of gloves are not smooth, and tiny wrinkles act as storage areas for contamination which can be transferred to food, food preparation surfaces and utensils if gloves are dirty. Pathogens on hands can get through gloves. Most gloves used for food preparation are permeable which means that pathogens from the wearer’s dirty hands can escape through the gloves on to food.

Also, the biggest threat, in my opinion, is that restaurants don’t take care of their employees and require them to work when they are sick. I can’t tell you how many times it was either work with a cold and fever, or lose my job. This is compounded by the fact that most restaurants don’t offer any kind of health insurance.

By: Willx

Willx — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:31:17 +0000

Stacy, that’s not all! I saw Greasy Shapiro on a plane less than 6 months ago. In mid flight, he took his shoes and socks off, picked the toe jam from between his stinky three toe’d feet with his finger nail, and eat that followed by nose jelly. He’s a walking Bio-Hazard!

By: Quagmire

Quagmire — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:17:37 +0000

I ate dorm food in college for four years, so my stomach is lined with an inch-thick layer of concrete after eating all of that crappy food. As a result, I don’t get sick from food. Giggity!

By: Rocky

Rocky — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:14:44 +0000

Ey yo…I don’t eat dem raw eggs anymore, ya know? I got sick as a dog one time, and Mickey got really ticked off at me for missing a training session ’cause I wuz sick. Now I gotta cook dem eggs, ya know?

By: dirty money

dirty money — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:01:44 +0000

It’s so true–Can’t stand to see food and money handled by same unwashed hands.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:29:53 +0000

I get a good laugh at the “fussy eaters” that fret about whether the person receiving minimum wage that just cooked their whopper was wearing gloves. Assume they are not, and if you are really that concerned about what you eat, why in the world are you eating at a burger joint? Sounds like you need to go home a have momma cut the crust off your PB&J.

By: just me

just me — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:26:40 +0000

inou- I have also heard that clean, bare hands are more sanitary. The reasoning is that with gloves, the cooks are more likely to wash their hands after touching something non food related. They think the gloves are still clean. With bare hands, they HAVE to wash their hands again if they touch something else. It supposedly makes them more conscious of keeping their hands clean. True or not…dunno.