Video: California Law Forces Chefs and Bartenders to Wear Gloves

“California Law Forces Chefs and Bartenders to Wear
Gloves,” produced by Alexis Garcia. About 5:30
minutes. 

Originally released on February 14, 2014. Original text is
below.

“This law, which seems to be really focused on the
Subways and Chipotles of the market, now affects your most
well-trained and experienced chefs who have mastered their craft
and have never had any issue,” says Jordan Bernstein, a Los
Angeles–based attorney at Michelman and Robinson who represents
some of California’s top chefs and eateries.

“They’ve been using their hands for 30 years and now
this really throws them for a loop.”
At a time when California is considering
a statewide ban on plastic shopping bags, the legislature
unanimously approved a measure that would force fine dining chefs
and bartenders to wear plastic gloves when handling a variety of
food items. 

Recent changes to the California Food Retail Code meant
to promote food safety have created
a backlashin the restaurant industry. Signed into law by Gov.
Jerry Brown last year, the modifications ban any bare-handed
contact with ready-to-eat foods. This means that all chefs and
bartenders must now wear single-use plastic gloves when handling
food such as steak, sushi, bread, fruit, and even the lemon garnish
on your tasty cocktail.  

And because California is considered to be one of the
pioneers of food safety laws, changes made in the state could
eventually spread nationwide. 

“There’s a possibility that wearing the gloves won’t
have the intended affect because there’s a possibility that people
will use it as a false sense of security—that their hands are clean
and they won’t actually wash their hands,” Bernstein continues. “I
don’t know why this notion of not washing hands was not good
enough. You could have just as much contamination with
gloves.”

Not only are there concerns about the effectiveness of
the law, but the blanket rule changes also have unintended
consequences on sushi chefs and
bartenders. 

“The big issue is the sushi chef,” states Bernstein.
“You’ve never seen a sushi chef wear gloves when preparing your
rolls or pieces. So that’s an unintended consequence.” Bernstein
also points out that the cost of stocking kitchens with high
volumes of disposable gloves could also negatively impact a
restaurant’s bottom line. 

Though the state has said that certain chefs and
establishments can apply for an exemption from the law, it hasn’t
defined how an exemption can be obtained—nor has it stated how it
plans to enforce the law when it fully goes into effect later this
year. 

Bartenders have taken a grassroots approach to fight
the law and launched
a petition on Change.org to get an exemption from the
statute. The petition has received over 11,000 signatures in just a
few weeks. Angelica Pappas, spokesperson for the California
Restaurant Association, says the trade group is also working with
the state health committee to make improvements to the law. Maybe
they can convince Sacramento bureaucrats that having a cookie
cutter approach to food safety has no place in any
kitchen.