Food safety and religion

mjtaljaard

Maybe someone can help.
From experience I know that chefs are only allowed a maximum of a plain wedding band for food safety purposes. Bacteria get stuck in rings and watched etc.
My problem.... What if the chef says a red string around his wrist is for religous purposes.
Hope someone can shed some light.

antoniosicily

this is why you should use lattice gloves if you're in a professional kitchen

olaola

Food safety is law, I don't want someone preparing my dishes with a manky aul piece of string around his wrist. UGH prob has all sorts of *crap* (literally) on it.

moonflower

You know the gloves that have an elasticated opening, so they're tight against the arm? I'd say if they're long enough that the bracelet is contained in them and there's no chance of it slipping out then it should be fine. I'd have no problem with it anyway. The loose gloves or no gloves are probably not allowed though with a bracelet. I'm not certain where the law sounds but it seems sensible.

Voltex

not sure if its specifically stated in food safety regs...but it certainly forms part of cGMPs for food.
IMHO...a string bracelet constitutes 2 hazards in terms of a biological hazard (harbouring bugs) and a foreign body hazard.
Im uncomprimising when it comes to food safety, I certainly wouldnt allow it...and it will also help to establish a positive food safety culture.

I would also add...that any effective HACCP system will always rely on a robust pre-requisite program (prp), with personal hygiene/workwear being an intrinsic part of the PRP.

rubadub

mjtaljaard wrote: »

What if the chef says a red string around his wrist is for religous purposes.

From what others are saying it simply sounds like his religion forbids him from being a chef, end of story, it is not your fault. I expect some people could not slaughter particular animals on religious grounds so could not be butchers. I expect some womens religion requires them to wear certain clothes so could not work as models.

Just googling there Sikhs were asking for bulletproof turbans as they were not allowed go for firearm police jobs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/07/police-sikhs-bulletproof-turbans

The Sikh religion requires its male followers to wear the turban, but existing police safety helmets do not fit on top of them.

Insp Gian Singh Chahal, vice-chairman of the British Police Sikh Association, said the Home Office needed to make provision for Sikhs and recognise that they had a role to play.

He told Police Review: "Sikh officers have been prohibited from becoming firearms officers because our religion does not allow us to remove the turban.

Sikhs are exempt from wearing crash helmets in the UK, I am not sure if that is the case here, if they are not exempt here they could simply not work as motorbike couriers, not the courier companies fault, and not the restaurants fault in this case.

You cannot simply claim religion rights like this and expect an employer to give in, otherwise I would tell my boss I am a devout follower of the god Thor and demand every thursday off as a day of worship.

Mellor

Your kitchen, your rules,

Take it off or get out.