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New Law Puts Gloves On California Bartenders
NPR ^ | 1/26/14 | Sam H. Sanders

Posted on 01/26/2014 10:16:50 AM PST by Drango

Bartender Cameron Hall hadn't heard of a new California law that bans culinary workers from touching uncooked food with their bare hands.

The rule applies to bartenders, who are now supposed to wear gloves to put limes in the mojitos and cherries in the Manhattans — even to scoop ice into a glass.

But when a reporter fills him in, Hall stops serving drinks at Rocco's Tavern, a little spot in downtown Culver City, just long enough to rant.

"It'd just be a pain," he says. "It'd be a nuisance. I'm gonna start making my customers wear gloves, in opposition!"

Hall says the law is unnecessary, as his bar is always on guard, ready for an unannounced food inspector to drop in, keeping up with multiple health and safety codes already on the books.

It's not just the nuisance of the gloves, he says. It's how they will change the art of bartending.

What would be the hardest thing to do with gloves on? Hall answers, "Shake hands."

California Assemblyman Richard Pan, a Democrat who heads the committee that introduced the glove rule, says the law is not that onerous.

For starters, Pan says the law was written after conversations between lawmakers, health officials and some of the establishments that would have to abide by the rule.

"The purpose of the law was not to force everyone to wear gloves, as much as to ensure that we have cleanliness and food safety in restaurants," he says.

Pan says regulators are still figuring out how they'll enforce the law. For the first six months, no one will be punished for not wearing gloves. They'll just get warnings.

Also, restaurants and bars can apply for exemptions to the rule if they adhere to strict training requirements and written guidelines.

Pan does admit, gloves can't fix all food safety issues.

"I think that we should keep our food clean and safe," he says. "That doesn't always mean wearing gloves. A glove by itself does not magically make everything clean."

Since the law passed, a change.org petition was launched to exempt bartenders from the glove rule. In just a few days, it got over 5,000 signatures.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
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California has jumped the shark.
1 posted on 01/26/2014 10:16:50 AM PST by Drango
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To: Drango

Bye-bye sushi?


2 posted on 01/26/2014 10:21:41 AM PST by gaijin
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To: Drango

But of course, touching [literally] filthy lucre with the gloves on and then touching the food will be fine and dandy. It’s only the servers’ hands that could pose any risk. Nimrods.


3 posted on 01/26/2014 10:32:16 AM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Drango

This is what comes of not putting enough alcohol in the drinks to kill the germs.

In case of doubt ask for a higher proof!


4 posted on 01/26/2014 10:36:01 AM PST by glorgau
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To: Drango
Most bartenders/barmaids I've seen use tongs to put garnishes in drinks. Occasionally I've seen very cute barmaids use their fingers but the clientele didn't seem to care.
5 posted on 01/26/2014 10:43:16 AM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Still Thinking
thank you...
6 posted on 01/26/2014 10:46:16 AM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Drango

Bartenders can compensate their glovedness by using these seven hand gestures that’ll make them look like a real intellectuals.
http://www.wired.com/design/2014/01/use-hand-gestures-look-like-real-intellectual/#x

This really should be posted as a separate thread, but I don’t have time to do so.


7 posted on 01/26/2014 10:52:15 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
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To: Drango

Years ago in a bar in a private club on the Westside of LA, there was a bartender that didn’t want to step away from the bar to take a #1. So, he would lean in toward the chest high 10-seat bar and relieve himself hands free in the sink.

He was, of course, as inebriated or worse than the hard core bar patrons when pulling this stunt. Somehow, I don’t think the rubber gloves law would have helped much in such a circumstance.


8 posted on 01/26/2014 10:53:43 AM PST by CreviceTool (A Good Samaritan with a handgun saved my life...)
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To: gaijin

The sushi chefs absolutely hate it. It actually interferes with the process, making it harder to cut things thin and just as they like, and so on.

Plus, these gloves make your hands hot sweaty very quickly. Figure a couple of glove changes per shift for everybody involved, easy.


9 posted on 01/26/2014 10:57:54 AM PST by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Still Thinking

Nose-picking is just as easy with gloves on too.


10 posted on 01/26/2014 11:00:07 AM PST by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: jiggyboy

Shhh. The Kalifornicators will mandate the installation of some kind of personal auger system, and then tell the servers they’ll get a ticket if caught picking their nose manually.


11 posted on 01/26/2014 11:01:35 AM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: gaijin

The county just repaved an almost new and in pristine condition road I use every day. About every mile they’ve added a yellow flashing diamond shape sign, 10 feet tall on a 4’’ steel post. (Very expensive.) They say things like “45mph blind curve,” or “45mph dip.”

We’re talking about a 55mph two lane, well traveled road with a 45mph sign every mile or so. Ridiculous. And, on the other side of the dip or curve there’s no sign saying resume speed or a 55mph sign.

Nanny state run wild. I do expect enforcement as the uniformed tax collectors heavily patrol this road.


12 posted on 01/26/2014 11:02:40 AM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: Gen.Blather

I don’t think you can get a ticket for ignoring those cautionary ones.


13 posted on 01/26/2014 11:04:09 AM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Gen.Blather

How in the world did we all survive without all these rules and regulations? I guess I just don’t understand how incredibly lucky I am to have lived through the oh-so-dangerous decades before we regulated EVERYTHING. It must have affected my mind, though. I can’t remember the many millions (billions?) who died from handling food bare handed or other unsafe acts of that bygone era, like driving without seat belts.


14 posted on 01/26/2014 11:31:15 AM PST by CitizenUSA (Sodomy and abortion: the only constitutional rights cherished by Democrats.)
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To: Drango

What problem were they solving? Was there an epidemic of food-borne illness in CA bars?


15 posted on 01/26/2014 11:44:05 AM PST by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: andyk

I think it was just a slow day in the legislature.


16 posted on 01/26/2014 11:47:27 AM PST by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
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To: CitizenUSA

I remember a shot Science fiction story. Robots came to Earth to serve man. They took over everything dangerous and wouldn’t let people go outside if the weather wasn’t perfect. They wouldn’t let anybody drive a car of fly a plane or ride a bicycle. I think it was called “With Folded Hands.” But we have arrived in that ultra-save hell.


17 posted on 01/26/2014 11:52:24 AM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: Gen.Blather

Robots came to Earth to serve man. They took over everything
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Seinfeld did a bit that when the Martians land and see you walking your dog and the dog stops to take a crap and YOU stoop to clean it up.

NOW, who would you think is in charge?


18 posted on 01/26/2014 12:08:09 PM PST by xrmusn (6/98 --Because you have your head up your arse doesn't mean you have to have a crappy outlook.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

LOL I can’t believe this article isn’t satire, Jack.

Leftists are the most neurotic people on the planet.


19 posted on 01/26/2014 12:09:15 PM PST by KGeorge (Till we're together again, Gypsy girl. May 28, 1998- June 3, 2013)
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To: KGeorge

Yesterday’s satire is today’s headlines. I don’t like making up absurd and satirical headlines anymore because they tend to come true.


20 posted on 01/26/2014 12:39:52 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; me = independent conservative)
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