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Food

Basic food hygiene?

(89 Posts)
fancythat Mon 13-Oct-25 16:40:57

Yesterday evening I was in a Motorway Service Station.
I dont intend to say which one.

I had a McDonalds[I can hear the cries from some from here!].

It was one of those places where you could see the, behind the scene staff, quite easily.
None at all were wearing any gloves, from what I saw.

I had assumed the days of that happening in the Uk were well gone. [unless a place gets shut down for that].

Am I out of touch with reality? Or were they?

RosieandherMaw Mon 13-Oct-25 16:45:45

Simple answer - don’t eat at McDonalds.
In fact don’t eat at Service Stations if you can help it

GrannyGravy13 Mon 13-Oct-25 16:52:03

It is not a Health and Safety prerequisite for kitchen staff or those preparing food to wear gloves in the U.K.

It is their responsibility to ensure clean hands and no cross contamination by frequent hand washing.

aggie Mon 13-Oct-25 17:00:16

Gloves are no guarantee, frequent hand washing is the way to go,

crazyH Mon 13-Oct-25 17:02:11

I have had McDonalds, KFC , Chinese, Indian etc.
Of all these years, the only time I had a tummy upset was when I had a ‘prepared’ salad from M&S, just saying.

rosie1959 Mon 13-Oct-25 17:09:41

I would think gloves are totally unnecessary just clean frequently washed hands

NotSpaghetti Mon 13-Oct-25 17:13:13

Are you safer if the cook/food handler wears gloves?
www.salon.com/2010/10/13/food_handler_glove_laws/

NotSpaghetti Mon 13-Oct-25 17:14:53

I am not a glove fan BTW but I note that my mother-in-law's part time carer puts them on after washing her hands to prepare snacks for my mother-in-law - even if she's just putting a biscuit on a plate.

Septimia Mon 13-Oct-25 17:32:40

If you watch some cookery programmes you can see that chefs and other staff in the kitchens of posh restaurants frequently put the food on plates with their bare hands. They might wash their hands but there's no guarantee that they haven't just touched something accidentally. It rather puts me off...

fancythat Mon 13-Oct-25 17:40:33

NotSpaghetti

Are you safer if the cook/food handler wears gloves?
www.salon.com/2010/10/13/food_handler_glove_laws/

Thanks for the link, but I dont read something that does not allow me to reject cookies.

I would certainly feel safer if someone wore gloves.
Personally.

BlueBelle Mon 13-Oct-25 17:42:06

I don’t think the wearing of gloves make any difference at all
MacDonalds do some lovely vegi wraps they are not all bad by any means

fancythat Mon 13-Oct-25 17:42:08

Septimia

If you watch some cookery programmes you can see that chefs and other staff in the kitchens of posh restaurants frequently put the food on plates with their bare hands. They might wash their hands but there's no guarantee that they haven't just touched something accidentally. It rather puts me off...

You can tell I have never worked in a commercial kitchen or watched many cookery programmes.

That would put me off too.

I somehow seem to remember a Uk law that people had to wear gloves for food preparation.
Maybe I have got that totally wrong.

sunami Mon 13-Oct-25 17:47:12

Septimia

If you watch some cookery programmes you can see that chefs and other staff in the kitchens of posh restaurants frequently put the food on plates with their bare hands. They might wash their hands but there's no guarantee that they haven't just touched something accidentally. It rather puts me off...

Surely they could just as easily have touched something inadvertently with gloved hands. I don't see the difference.

aggie Mon 13-Oct-25 17:52:10

I agree Septima
Yes that’s the point I was trying to make

aggie Mon 13-Oct-25 17:53:18

Sorry I meant that to agree with Sunami

fancythat Mon 13-Oct-25 17:54:28

Going to the toilet with gloves on? For example?

Allira Mon 13-Oct-25 17:55:59

BlueBelle

I don’t think the wearing of gloves make any difference at all
MacDonalds do some lovely vegi wraps they are not all bad by any means

They could touch a raw burger then touch the salad even if wearing gloves.

I do wear gloves in the kitchen occasionally, if I don't want the smell of onions or garlic to linger on my hands (it does, even if they're washed afterwards) or cutting up raw chicken. But then they go straight in the bin.

GrannyGravy13 Mon 13-Oct-25 18:00:37

fancythat

Septimia

If you watch some cookery programmes you can see that chefs and other staff in the kitchens of posh restaurants frequently put the food on plates with their bare hands. They might wash their hands but there's no guarantee that they haven't just touched something accidentally. It rather puts me off...

You can tell I have never worked in a commercial kitchen or watched many cookery programmes.

That would put me off too.

I somehow seem to remember a Uk law that people had to wear gloves for food preparation.
Maybe I have got that totally wrong.

There is no requirement by law to wear gloves for food preparation or handling in the U.K. as I posted up thread.

There is a requirement to wash hands frequently to stop cross contamination.

escaped Mon 13-Oct-25 18:14:28

But chefs are artisans, those who flip burgers are not.
Chefs need bare hands to touch food to check the texture and to arrange delicate foods on the plate. They rarely use gloves when using sharp knives. If hygiene is good, why would they need to wear gloves?
I guess handling raw burgers then touching the lettuce or relish could be seen as an issue in the likes of McDonald's. I've never been overly worried in service stations, airports, train stations though, and more importantly never been ill.

Visgir1 Mon 13-Oct-25 18:21:37

On TV this lunchtime there was a report that a Hospital in the South of England, is taking away all sinks from an ITU, as hand washing isn't adequate to kill germs. They will just all use Hand Sanitiser, they are now thinking of doing it through out the Hospital.

So perhaps that's what they use?

NotSpaghetti Mon 13-Oct-25 18:27:09

fancythat I rejected cookies!
Apologies.

butterandjam Mon 13-Oct-25 18:38:49

NotSpaghetti

I am not a glove fan BTW but I note that my mother-in-law's part time carer puts them on after washing her hands to prepare snacks for my mother-in-law - even if she's just putting a biscuit on a plate.

Extra caution, possibly because carers also handle bodies, wee, poo, dressings etc.

Romola Mon 13-Oct-25 19:00:02

Hand sanitiser for care in hospital, I get that. But wouldn't the sanitiser give the food a funny taste?

MayBee70 Mon 13-Oct-25 19:05:24

Allira

BlueBelle

I don’t think the wearing of gloves make any difference at all
MacDonalds do some lovely vegi wraps they are not all bad by any means

They could touch a raw burger then touch the salad even if wearing gloves.

I do wear gloves in the kitchen occasionally, if I don't want the smell of onions or garlic to linger on my hands (it does, even if they're washed afterwards) or cutting up raw chicken. But then they go straight in the bin.

I’ve got what looks like a stainless steel bar of soap that is supposed to remove onion smell from hands. Not sure if it works as I still make sure that I don’t do any other sort of cooking if I’m cutting onions.

Allira Mon 13-Oct-25 20:09:28

MayBee70

Allira

BlueBelle

I don’t think the wearing of gloves make any difference at all
MacDonalds do some lovely vegi wraps they are not all bad by any means

They could touch a raw burger then touch the salad even if wearing gloves.

I do wear gloves in the kitchen occasionally, if I don't want the smell of onions or garlic to linger on my hands (it does, even if they're washed afterwards) or cutting up raw chicken. But then they go straight in the bin.

I’ve got what looks like a stainless steel bar of soap that is supposed to remove onion smell from hands. Not sure if it works as I still make sure that I don’t do any other sort of cooking if I’m cutting onions.

If I'm crocheting or knitting afterwards, I'm always conscious in case my hands smell of onions.

Off to investigate your soap 🙂