Department of Public Health to Change Rule for Handling Some Food Ingredients

February 22nd, 2012

The Georgia Department of Public Health will allow some restaurant workers to handle certain food ingredients with their bare hands. It plans to make the exception after hearing from local pizza restaurants.

A state rule requires that workers use gloves while handling “ready-to-eat” pizza ingredients like cheese and pepperoni. For pizza places, using gloves can raise costs and lower productivity.

That’s why Karen Bremer at the Georgia Restaurant Association asked the state to allow pizza makers to use their bare hands.

“The reason that we wanted it here in Georgia was to facilitate the pizza industry to be able to operate at the same level that the pizza industry operates in the rest of the United States,” she says.

Bremer’s request is in line with FDA standards. They approve the use of bare hands if “ready-to-eat” foods are then cooked at 165 degrees or more for at least 15 seconds. Pizza ovens get well above this temperature — for several minutes even.

Gary Nelson, who’s on the state board that passed the exemption, says the move would not affect consumer safety.

“There is no compromise, no change in the protections that the department applies to prevent contamination of any food,” Nelson says. “It is simply a cost-containment issue.”

Bremer and restaurants in the state are pleased with how the department drafted the new rule.