Gloves on the makeline

R

Registered_Guest

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Do you use them or not?

My health department doesn’t (yet) require that I use gloves on the makeline. However, I’ve noticed recently that there has been an increase in customer “questioning” “you don’t use gloves?” - even though these see proper handwashing.

We do use gloves when preparing all things that wil not go through the oven, like salads, etc.

With that Domino’s video all the rage on every newscast, I’m wondering if this will become even more of an issue.
 
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Florida waffles on the glove concept…sometimes they say use them 4 topping only, then the next time use them all the time…reckon it’ll be 24/7 soon…
 
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I’ve never heard of pizza places using gloves on the makeline. That wouldn’t be feasible. Your times would go through the roof, and you would go through millions of gloves a year.

What I hate to see is when employees at other restaurants use the same gloves for multiple things. They think “hey I’m wearing gloves, so I’m good”. But they’re too stupid to realize that gloves are the same exact thing as bare hands IF they don’t change them after every order or item. Gloves can hold bacteria and contamination just as well as bare hand.
 
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GA food code actually mirrors a national food code of some sort in that restaurants are required avoid bare hand contact with ANY ready to eat foods. GA code may have reworded it somehow, but it is being interpreted y the State Department of Natural Resources to mean that any for that is in a ready to eat state must be handled with a tool or gloved hands. To wit . . . . all pre-cooked roppings and raw vegetable toppings that could potentially be eaten right off the table must follow the standard.

I am just beyond stumped. It makes zero sense when we have gone to extreme lengths to assure that we have different sources for food that will be served AS IS. Pizza make table is for food to be baked on pizzas, PERIOD. Some restaurants have appealed to the state to have this reveiwed and re-written. I understand that PJ’s had been making inquiries. Nothing formal was done to date to legally challenge the law . . . no one wants to do the microbiological surveys and such I suppose. So, we keep gloves by the make line. I am absolutely confident in the safety procedures we use with our pizza toppings. We do not use gloves for dough stretching. I am hyper-dilligent whenever inspector is in house to be sure I change gloves and wash hands frequently, sometimes even if I don’t have to.

Remember that the food safety standards require employees to dispose of gloves . . . then wash hands thoroughly using the 30-second rule. . . .dry with single use towel . . . then reglove with single use disposable. That is each and every time the gloves are removed. Talk about work! I gotta get hand lotion by the gallon at some point.
 
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Keep in mind I’m basically talking about customer perception here. Not “real” concern over sanitary conditions.

I know that my food is safe when handled with bare hands before putting in the oven.

However - when a customer is watching me make their pizza with my bare hands, that’s a different story. I have had, in the past, customer cancel their order when they see no gloves being used - and make it known that they are cancelling because of that. I’ve been asked before “you don’t use gloves?” - and I give them the explanation - but I don’t think it changes their perception of the situation.

In every other place I can think of where a customer can see their food being prepared - gloves are being used. Even if the gloves are not used in the manner which they should for absolute sanitation - just the fact that you are wearing them seems to give the “green light” to the customer that everything is indeed sanitary.
 
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I honestly only use them if I am putting on Anchovies or a product that I don’t want to transfer over to the next pie. Obviously if you are making 10 Pepperoni pizzas its not an issue lol. I find that it is ALOT easier to not use them being able to feel the toppings makes it faster and easier for me to judge how much I am using and especially with pepperoni for seperating slices.

However I cannot stand the anchovies so I throw on gloves EVERY time I touch them lol
 
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If the customer can see you making the pies I can understand the need for gloves, however it still gets in the way. I would also make a very visual show at washing hands between pies. Put a sanitary bucket near the line or something. People do get kinda put off when they see people touching their food without gloves, they don’t seem to understand that the Oven will kill anything bad from the hands
 
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If we had to use them on the makeline that would drive the store to halt.

The county health department for us states that gloves are to be worn for all food that is ready to eat. Meaning if it gets cooked in the oven then we are ok, but salads, cold subs, and handling food on the catching side all requires gloves.

Gloves would literally bring the pizza making station to a halt. I can see it for toppings but not for the actual pizza making.
 
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Always keep in mind that the gloves only serve to help clean and sanitize the hands. Even when wearing gloves, you still need to periodically wash and sanitize your hands. How many times have you seen someone prepping the salads, then go to the fridge, still wearing the gloves, and get out more ingredients, then go right back to prepping the salads?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Tom Lehmann:
How many times have you seen someone prepping the salads, then go to the fridge, still wearing the gloves, and get out more ingredients, then go right back to prepping the salads?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
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Every time I go to Subway! :roll: We have gloves at all our make tables. Gloves are mandatory when the food that is being prepared will not be cooked. So all salads, some sandwiches, and even some apps that are only run through the oven half way. I tell this to the health inspector every time they inspect my store. It seems to be okay for them. My last inspection, she told me soon gloves will become mandatory. I told we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
 
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I realize that this response is not what Registered Guest is referring to but it may help some of the places in Florida. Despite the recent health department push to enforce the bare hand contact rules for ready to eat foods (pizza toppings, even though they will be cooked again) there is a procedure to get around this. The following DPBR link will bring up a page with a link to the Alternative Operating Procedure application to allow barehand contact with RTE food. Right under Food Service is the link to the application.

http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/HR/forms/ … .html#food
 
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marketing is everything… and everything is marketing.

Baby boomers (me being one) :), food scares (baby formula, peanut butter, green onions, apples, etc.), video cameras, Wi-Max… all will force all of us to be more aware and change how / what the guests observe.

It has always been the case that what a guest will observe will keep them away or bring them back.
Over the years, the newer designs of pizza such as Pizza Hut are allowing less view of the BOH to ensure the customers experience is positive in every way.

The decision for procedures in the kitchen is not always based on health standards… at times they need to show how “unbelievably great” the processes are. After almost losing a sister last week due to an allergy … I am sure she and others will be much more sensitive and aware.

It may be time to rethink how the customer views the operation and options with screens/walls, etc. to minimize the risk. (Pizza making on the maketable with gloves would be challenge…)

Never had a place yet wear gloves on the maketable but many are upgrading the assets to limit the view.
 
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MichaelHartzell:
It has always been the case that what a guest will observe will keep them away or bring them back.
Over the years, the newer designs of pizza such as Pizza Hut are allowing less view of the BOH to ensure the customers experience is positive in every way.
Click to expand...
Until they end up on YouTube blowing snot-rockets on your sandwich! :shock:
 
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