04C — Bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food
Bare-hand contact means a worker touches ready-to-eat food (food served without further cooking) with bare hands instead of a barrier. Hands carry germs even when they look clean, and there is no cook step left to kill them, so the food goes to the guest contaminated. The inspector only needs to see it happen once; the more workers doing it, the higher the score. This is a frequent, very preventable critical violation, and the rule applies whether or not an inspector is watching.
What the inspector looks for
Watch anyone touching food that will not be cooked again — salads, sandwiches, sliced bread, garnishes, sliced cheese, plated desserts. Bare hands must never touch it; they must use gloves, tongs, deli paper, or a spoon. A bare hand on ready-to-eat food fails.
Points & grade impact
Cited at 7 points — 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 by number of workers across condition I-IV; uncorrected PHH → 28. NYC adds every cited violation’s points into one inspection score: 0–13 = A, 14–27 = B, 28+ = C.
| Condition level | Points |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 7 |
| Level 2 | 8 |
| Level 3 | 9 |
| Level 4 | 10 |
How to fix it
Stop; discard the food touched with bare hands; switch to a barrier (gloves, tongs, deli paper, spoon) immediately.
How to prevent it
Handle ready-to-eat food only with gloves, tongs, spatula, deli paper or a spoon; wash hands before gloving; use gloves for one task then discard; change gloves when soiled, torn or after any interruption.
- ✓Stage gloves, tongs, deli paper, or a spoon at every station that touches ready-to-eat food, so the barrier is always within reach.
- ✓Wash hands first, then glove up; use a glove for one task, then change it.
- ✓Change gloves after handling raw food, touching your face or hair, taking out trash, or any interruption.
- ✓If you catch a bare hand on ready-to-eat food, throw that food out and switch to a barrier right away.
Reference: Health Code §81.07(j)
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