Employee Makes Hamburger with Gloves Used for Trash... Responds with Bizarre Excuse When Confronted

"It's fine because these are special gloves," employee claims
Headquarters offers only a lukewarm apology

A story about an employee at a hamburger restaurant who was caught by a customer making food with the same gloves used to handle trash-and then offered the bizarre excuse that they were "special gloves"-has been made public, sparking controversy.

According to JTBC's "Incident Commander" on the 28th, informant A visited a franchise hamburger restaurant in Busan on the 19th. When the hamburger A ordered was taking a long time, A stood watching the open kitchen while waiting. A then witnessed an employee, wearing blue gloves and preparing hamburgers, take a trash bag out of the trash can, throw it in a corner, and then return to the cooking station to place a patty on a bun with tongs-all without changing gloves. The employee then completed the hamburger by placing the bun on top, packaged it, and handed it over. This hamburger was the one A had ordered.

An employee at a hamburger restaurant in Busan is picking up a trash bag with gloved hands. JTBC "Case Manager."

When A asked, "Did you just make my hamburger with the same gloves you used to touch the trash?" the employee replied with the absurd statement, "It's okay because these are special gloves." After hearing about the incident, the manager took a confrontational stance, saying, "Don't you know this is illegal filming?" When A showed the video taken, the manager asked, "So, do you want me to make a new one?" Only when A asked, "Shouldn't you apologize first?" did the manager finally offer an apology.

Afterwards, A reported the incident to the franchise headquarters. However, the headquarters only gave a lukewarm response, simply saying "We're sorry" without mentioning any steps to address the issue or plans for future improvement. As a result, A reported the restaurant to the city health department.

Upon hearing the story, online commenters reacted by saying, "Prove that these are special gloves. If you can't, you should consider shutting down," "How can they manage hygiene like that? Are they not washing their hands after using the bathroom either?" "It seems like the gloves are for protecting their own hands, not for hygiene," "They wear gloves just so they don't have to touch dirty things with bare hands. All restaurants do this. They never take them off because it's inconvenient," and "It's actually better to use bare hands. If your hands get dirty, you feel compelled to wash them, but with gloves, you wash your hands even less."