US bartender ‘glove law’ could be binned

Plans for a controversial law that would require all bartenders in California to wear gloves or garnish their drinks with other utensils could be scrapped.

Following a raft of criticisms from the on-trade, a law which would require California bartenders to wear gloves could be binned

It was late last year that following changes to the California Retail Food Code, workers at California-based bars would be required to wear disposable gloves or use other utensils to handle ingredients.

A raft of criticism ensued and a petition was launched calling for the exemption of bartenders from the law.

It has since come to light that the bill’s author, Assemblyman Richard Pan, is seeking to overturn the law, which is set to come into affect in June this year.

He told The Sacramento Bee: “[The law] didn’t sound that dissimilar to the existing law, which said that we should minimise hand contact and that there should be good hand-washing procedures.

“But we started hearing from local restaurants, smaller restaurants, and also bartenders about the impact it would have on them.”

Pan has therefore introduced a new bill, which would simply reinstate the California Retail Food Code as it was before the recent revision.

This has been described as an “urgency measure”, which means the law would take affect immediately if it receives two-thirds of votes at the state’s Assembly.

The California Restaurant Association has lent its support to the revised bill.

According to the group’s CEO and president: “While the intention of everyone involved was to align the California code with federal regulations it has quickly become clear that a one size-fits-all implementation for such a diversely structured industry presented too many operational challenges.

“The right course of action is being pursued by Assemblyman Pan.”