The Christmas market that still haunts me 🎄

EHO Story 📩

I shared a post on LinkedIn recently about glove misuse, and the comments flooded in from food safety professionals. Different settings, different foods, same issue. Gloves being used incorrectly, again and again.

It reminded me of something I witnessed a couple of years ago. One of those moments that sticks with you.

It was Christmas. I was visiting a large Christmas market, wrapped up, feeling festive, standing in a queue for food. The smells were great, the lights were on, everything looked as you would expect.

Then I noticed the food handler working in the hut.

She’d stepped outside to the doorway to have a cigarette. Still wearing her apron. Still wearing her gloves. Cigarette held between her gloved fingers.

I cringed, but told myself she would obviously change her gloves before going back to work.

It got worse.

Someone she clearly knew walked past with a dog 🐶 She leaned down and started stroking the dog. With the same gloves. Cigarette. Dog. Gloves. All happening right in the doorway of the food hut.

I stood there thinking surely, surely, she will change those gloves before touching food again.

She did not.

She went straight back inside, grabbed food with those contaminated gloves, and dropped it straight into the fryer.

Festive appetite gone 🎅

Food Safety Tip ✅

Gloves are worn to protect food, not the other way around! To do this, they must be used correctly.

✔️ Gloves must be removed before smoking and before breaks.
✔️ Gloves must be changed regularly and after each task.
✔️ Gloves are not a substitute for hand washing. Hands must still be washed thoroughly and regularly.

If gloves are worn through multiple activities, they become a contamination risk, not a control measure.

The Serious Lesson

Gloves are not the problem. Behaviour is.

Gloves often create a false sense of safety. And in busy, seasonal settings like Christmas markets, people can rush and take short cuts.

But customers notice. Even if they say nothing, they notice. And moments like this damage trust.

If you are busy this Christmas, take a moment to remind your team what gloves are for, and just as importantly, when they must come off.

Because a gloved hand is only as clean as the last thing it touched.