I do have ServSafe. Gloves are discussed. Guidance is to do what your local health department says. The science says that regular hand washing is better than gloves which tend not to be changed regularly enough. You are supposed to wash hands before putting on fresh gloves and wash again on removal. Wearing gloves is particularly a problem where cross-contamination is of concern.
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Thanks–this actually makes me feel a little better! (Also, I’m not generally dyslexic but I AM an editor, so thanks for correcting it–ServSafe makes sense. 
) Still odd to me that they’re not wearing masks, but I have to confess I don’t know what the current rules are around here.
PA is strict. I keep a mask at all times as I cannot enter any public place without it. No employee–food service or not (pharmacy, grocery, etc)-- can work without a mask and gloves. Plexiglas shields are everywhere and cash is discouraged.
Still not sure how often those gloves are changed.
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I think that gloves are a red herring. What’s important is washing and cleanliness. If a server or preparer washes his or her hands regularly, that would be–I would think–better than wearing gloves that are not regularly washed.
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I’m no doctor … don’t even play one on tv … but one of the main reasons restaurants have been able to stay open is that the likelihood of contracting the virus through food is extremely low. The heat of cooking will kill the virus and any virus on the food will be quickly killed by stomach acids. You’re more likely to get the virus from touching the packaging and rubbing your eyes, not the food.
But you’re right, for optics alone you’d think they’d be wearing masks and gloves.
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I agree. Most BOH are tight spaces. I think the masks need not be worn so much for my protection as the customer but for the protection of the restaurant workers.
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Agree with you about masks. I understand it’s hot BOH but the rules are the rules. After all, we don’t let them cook in their underwear.
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In France they do. Years ago I took a private foodie tour of Paris. One stop was at the most famous and maybe the oldest boulangerie in town. We even got to go downstairs and see the famed old oven. There, presiding over the cramped hot oven room was an old man in his underwear. Our guide kissed him on both cheeks as if they were both fully clothed.
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Very much so. I frankly don’t get the whole idea of wearing gloves as “protection” against anything but skin diseases (or hazmat), or in clinical settings where the wearer puts them on when they they’re examining or treating a patient , removes them when they’re done, and puts on a fresh pair before they do the same with a different patient (hopefully/usually washing their hands in between as well). I mean, unless someone is sticking their fingers up their nose or in their mouth, the only “stuff” on their hands is what they pick up from surfaces, which - surprise, surprise - gets picked up on gloves just as readily as it does on skin. (And if they are sticking their fingers places I don’t want to know about, how many of them are either washing their hands or at least being careful to avoid contaminating anything but the tiniest area at the wrists when they put the gloves on?)
And in food service settings, how often do we see anyone - except maybe a manager or something who handles food only sporadically - changing gloves (much less washing their gloved hands) in between tasks? Myself, I’ve never seen anyone do that…
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Well, that’s one thing that’ll have changed over recent weeks.
Our last restaurant meal was in early March - before lockdown but after it became obvious things were getting bad. This is a place where we are always greeted warmly and addressed by name (although we cannot persuade them to use our first names). This time, we’re greeted by the female business partner who says “Shall we hug?” (hugs are usually included in the greeting). We say “Probably best not to”. So, the virus has probably put an end to such friendliness. This is not progress.
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Gloves have been out of stock at restaurant supply stores lately.
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That’s probably because all of us knew where to find them… 
Seriously, though–that’s certainly a good sign; it means someone is using them!
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But for what? I while back I was in the grocery store and someone was picking her nose with her bright purple gloves on and then proceeded to enter her pin in the CC Machine. Good thing I always carry wipes inside with me.
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That always bothered me too even before the Cov-19.
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Uhboy.
Well, she didnt get anyone else’s snot on her fingers, just on the gloves.
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Excellent point
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From NJ.com, which is doing a daily Coronavirus question with a response from a healthcare professional or scientist:
An answer to today’s question is provided by Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease specialist who teaches at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Q: Is it smarter to wear gloves or frequently wash your hands?
A: Wash your hands. Although there is no definitive data confirming that hand washing is necessarily better, gloves are just as contaminated as a person’s hands. If someone wears gloves for prolonged periods of time, and are touching their face or other surfaces with the gloves, they’re not helping themselves at all. Hence, washing hands or carrying hand sanitizer is an easier and more sensible solution.
I have to admit that DOES make me feel better about the lack of gloves that I had seen on social media posts—but not the lack of masks!
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