“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 backlash in 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.
Approximately 5:30 minutes.
Produced by Alexis Garcia. Camera by Tracy Oppenheimer, Paul
Detrick, William Neff, Sharif Matar, Gabrielle Cole, and Alex
Manning.
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