296827 Sun Apr 18 18:00:57 -0700 2004 15 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1636252 Hello, I was out doing some tagsales yesterday morning with a friend and we stopped in Burger King for a quick breakfast. As I was waiting near the counter I saw the prep person in the back making the salads for the day and wearing no gloves and touching all the veggies and fixings with her bare hands. Isn't she supposed to be wearing gloves? Last year up this way we had a hepatitis outbreak at a local pizza joint in Monroe and this has made me wonder ever since. Should I ever report something like this when I see it happening? And who do I report it too? Thanks,Richie Sun Apr 18 18:00:57 -0700 2004 0 Richie 1 1636254 yes, you absolutely should report it - especially since this food does not come into contact with heat after it's been handled. It is precisely the type of thing that breeds bacteria. Call your local health dept. found in the phone book. You'll be saving a lot of people from being sick if there is any contaminant there. Calling the hd in will also simply make BK more aware in general 1. that people notice and 2. will inspire them to be cleaner in all areas of food prep that we may not see. Sun Apr 18 18:09:48 -0700 2004 1636252 0 mimi 1 1636271 I would also make a quick report to Burger King HQ through http://www.planetfeedback.com/consumer/ You can choose at some point during the process to have your letter displayed for others to read (while hiding your personal information). I think that that warning for others is a valuable tool. Sun Apr 18 21:51:45 -0700 2004 1636252 0 David in Olympia 1 1636295 First off, just because a prep-person is wearing gloves, does not prevent the spread of bacteria. In fact, dirty gloves are equally responsible as dirty hands as the number one transfer agent of food borne illness. Laws vary from state to state. Federal guidelines do not require the use of gloves in the preparation of food that does not require heat processing. However, it does require all food handlers to wash their hands in a very specific manner. I think if you actually spent time in a fast food environment you would see that generally most are set up to avoid the influence of food borne illness. All states and federal guidelines agree, the washing of hands frequently is the best protection from the transfer of food borne illness. This is good practice in the professional environment as well as at home. The subject of gloves is a continued debate. Dirty gloves spread disease, and gloves give the false impression of safety. Mon Apr 19 09:46:21 -0700 2004 1636252 0 CIAChef 2 1636297 I worked at BK once - we didn't have to use gloves to handle lettus, tomatoes, etc. when outfitting the Whopper. Our hand were clean. No problem here IMHO. Mon Apr 19 10:20:43 -0700 2004 1636295 0 rudeboy 2 1636371 Many moons ago, when working in a hospital kitchen, we videotaped our employees working a typical day in the kitchen. I want to make it clear that we had their consent and we made no effort to hide it from them. We found that people wearing gloves - whether cheap food service gloves or surgical gloves, tended to be LESS likely to wash their hands believing that the gloves prevented the spread of bacteria. Our best practices after this exercise was to encourage hand washing followed by the use of a hand sanitizer. Personally, I would have disposed of the gloves BUT a lot of patrons wanted to see our servers wear them in the front of the house. Mon Apr 19 23:14:43 -0700 2004 1636295 0 Jlawrence01 3 1636532 This isn't surprising at all. It's called preservation of risk, and it's a well-documented phenomenon. Medicines with childproof caps are more likely to be kept on the kitchen table, rather than medicine cabinets. People wearing seatbelts tend to drive faster (this is a case where the good still outweighs the bad). And (pet peeve alert) I'm absolutely convinced that people with cell phones tend to leave the house later, without directions or map and low on gas, because they can always call to warn that they'll be late. Gloves do give customers a sense of security, but I agree that doing without is probably better. After all, people tend to wash their hands when their hands feel yucky. Gloves keep their hands feeling clean and dry, but cross-contaminate as much as bare hands do. People will rarely change gloves as frequently as they wash their hands. Wed Apr 21 13:05:15 -0700 2004 1636371 0 curiousbaker 4 1636552 At the hallowed Katz's Deli in NY the other day, I observed the meat slicing guys taking money (tips) with their gloved hands. I just looked the other way and enjoyed my pastrami. As another poster remarked, I made it through my youth in the 1970's without gloved food service workers, bicycle helmet, car seat, air bags, in a house filled w/mom's cigarette smoke, etc. etc. Relax and enjoy!! Wed Apr 21 15:34:30 -0700 2004 1636532 0 LisaM 1 1636298 Thanks everyone,never gave it a thought about the gloves spreading bacteria too. Mon Apr 19 10:58:21 -0700 2004 1636252 0 Richie 1 1636313 Don't the food workers' hands come into contact with outer surface of the gloves when the workers are putting them on? And the gloves that have thus been handled and touched then come into direct contact with the food. IMO gloves are mostly window dressing. The best defenses against disease are proper sanitation, adequatly trained workers, mandatory screening and innoculations of food workers for foodborne diseases (which very few jurisdictions require) and rigid inspection programs. And even then, food safety will never be 100%. Mon Apr 19 13:07:59 -0700 2004 1636252 0 Sam D. 1 1636324 I often wonder which would make me more ill at Burger King: the food or someone handling it without gloves. Mon Apr 19 14:48:40 -0700 2004 1636252 0 2chez mike 2 1636329 But, you have to admit - the Whopper is the absolute best fast food burger. Mon Apr 19 15:20:28 -0700 2004 1636324 0 rudeboy 3 1636331 AGREED!!!!!!! Except for the occasional bone chip and/or gristle ball, that is... Mon Apr 19 15:32:26 -0700 2004 1636329 0 kelvinator 4 1636336 Funny how I made it through my youth in the 60's-70's, before ANY food handlers wore gloves, without getting sick once. Mon Apr 19 16:12:24 -0700 2004 1636331 0 2chez mike 4 1636355 "Except for the occasional bone chip and/or gristle ball, that is..." LOL - no kidding! My friend and I often "race" (keep track) to see who gets the inedible bit first. I wish Whoppers didn't taste so good, because I'd rather do without these little parts in my food. Mon Apr 19 19:01:35 -0700 2004 1636331 0 David in Olympia 1 1636383 She absolutely should have been wearing food handler's gloves. First place to start complaining is with the manager. That usually takes care of the situation. Tue Apr 20 07:27:43 -0700 2004 1636252 0 sixozpatty