The 'Controversial' Restaurant Truth You May Wish You Never Learned
When it comes to eating out, we all want to believe that whoever is in charge of preparing our food is making it in a safe and sanitary manner. However, even if most restaurants adhere to strict health and safety guidelines for food preparation, we still might not like to think about exactly how the sausage (literally) gets made. No matter how strict the kitchen is, there are likely to be some surprises, and perhaps somewhat controversial truths about working in the restaurant industry that many of us might simply be happier not knowing about.
One curious Reddit user opened up a can of worms on the r/KitchenConfidential subreddit, asking, "What are your most controversial cooking/restaurant opinions?" The post prompted many replies regarding the handling of raw meat with bare heads. "I don't wear gloves when I carve meat. Ever," u/Lincoln04 replied. "Unless I have an open wound, I do not wear gloves when carving meat. Not even fish. I know, I know. I Know. I scrub and rinse and sanitize. But I learned how to carve and butcher practically on the fly and with little to no formal education during my career. And I rely a lot on touch and feel to make the correct cut and identify the anatomy."
Gloves might not be required when handling raw meat
While the right methods for handling raw meat can be a touchy and controversial topic, many other food service workers in the r/KitchenConfidential subreddit acknowledged that they don't always don gloves when preparing raw cuts. "This is the way. Unless you're using sterile gloves, and you're not, they're way too expensive, gloves don't protect against everything and makes people sloppy about washing their hands," u/Quarantined_foodie responded. "Bare hand contact with product that isn't ready to eat is perfectly fine," another user agreed.
While the thought of cooks handling raw meat with their bare hands may seem icky to some, the practice actually isn't as unsanitary as it may sound. In 2018, the Citizen-Times looked into the issue of gloveless meat handling at a North Carolina grocery store. State law did not require the use of gloves for touching raw meat because it should be cooked to temperatures that are safe for consumption before it ever reaches a customer's plate. The only foods that had to be handled with gloves on were ready-to-eat foods. It's important to note that the rules might differ across states. But so as long as cooks are properly washing their hands and keeping their kitchens properly clean, it shouldn't be very risky if they choose to handle raw meat without gloves.