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Petition asks for Washington revision of policy on preparation of 'ready to eat' food

By Patranya Bhoolsuwan
By Patranya Bhoolsuwan

An online petition is circulating by a group called “Gloves Off Washington,” asking the Washington State Department of Health to consider revising its policy on food preparers being able to have bare-hand contact with “ready to eat food."

The group said single-use plastic gloves give employees a “false sense of security” and “discourage proper hand washing."

“Gloves Off Washington” also brings up environmental concerns -- comparing food prep gloves to plastic straws Seattle just banned.

KIRO 7 contacted state health officials and the agency sent us a statement, saying in part:

“Food workers touching 'ready to eat' food is a frequent cause of food-borne illness in Washington and across the country. Gloves are just one of several options food workers can use to avoid bare hand contact with ready to eat food. Other tools workers may use include tongs, spatulas, scoops, forks, spoons, and deli paper."

KIRO 7 talked with Jong Lee, who works at World Class Coffee & Deli in Belltown, and he said he would never think of not using gloves to prep food for his customers.

“It literally comes down to basic sanitizing rules,” said Lee. “I want customers to feel safe coming in that you are in a safe environment. The pay a certain amount of money to go eat and they want to feel safe and secure about it.”

One of the deli’s regular customers, Chris Hemenes, said he visits the business almost daily because he likes the food and he trusts it’s safe.

“I will notice if someone is not using gloves,” said Hemenes. “Here I see Jong puts on gloves while preparing food and I see him do it every single time when I come in so, yeah, definitely a sense of trust there.”

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