Ok so I was watching a FN challenge about a month or so ago and couldnt help but notice that one of the assistants (an extremely talented woman) had on a lovely set of acrylic nails. The reason why I had noticed this is because I myself have been a long time user of acrylic nails until just recently. I had begun to notice that my nails when due for a fill would begin to lift and subsequently I would get ingredients trapped under them. Eww!! Being a germaphobe with a new shop that doesnt want to get into trouble for making people sick I immediately saw this as being a problem and had the nails removed.
So the point of this post is..what is your take on acrylic nails? Would you allow your self or your assistants wear them?

Absolutely not. Even natural nails need to be trimmed very short for sanitary reasons. Personally, I don't know how anyone can decorate with nails. Could you imagine assembling a giant cake, then discovering one of your nails is missing?

Diane,
That is an excelent point. What in the world would you do if that happened??!! OMG too funny but kind of scary. Could you imagine the bride delicately feeding her new husband a bite of their beautitiful cake and have him choke on a fake fingernail!!! LOL!! Like I said funny to think of...not so funny if it actually happened. When I did still have my nails I had major issues with fingernail marks in the fondant. Now nails are kept short, neat, and polish free.

I agree with DianeLM....no acrylic nails here! If I had a shop I would require short, neatly groomed nails with no nail polish! I always notice waitress' nails and if they're ungroomed it drives me nuts....and makes me lose my appetite!

Have you ever noticed how spic n' span Ina Garten, Giada and Martha Stewart's nails are? That's how it SHOULD be!

I have real nails and they have always been a little long (not gross) but they get in the way when I work with fondant anyway...I have to cut them now...not so happy about that. But I agree with everyone, shorter the better.

cambo...I agree totally it makes me nuts when someone who is working with food has chipped ungroomed or even worse chewed nails. Turns me right off

I think you should wear gloves if you have them but I would never be able to work like that so no more nails for me. I miss having them but I love cakes more.

I love my nails, but unless I have a wedding to go to, my nails are short, unpolished , and clean. I remember when I first started Culinary School our Chef told us all that we had to cut ours nails and were not allowed to wear any polish or rings. It was hard for a day, but then I agreed since you use your hands to touch EVERYTHING. Now I also get grossed out if I see people in food service with long, chipped, or dirty nails.

I love my nails, but unless I have a wedding to go to, my nails are short, unpolished , and clean. I remember when I first started Culinary School our Chef told us all that we had to cut ours nails and were not allowed to wear any polish or rings. It was hard for a day, but then I agreed since you use your hands to touch EVERYTHING. Now I also get grossed out if I see people in food service with long, chipped, or dirty nails.

I dont have long nails, or fake nails. But I have noticed that some food gets stuck under my nails while decorating. I am the type of person that washes my hand quite frequently. I cant stand the feel of my hands being sticky and when decorating cakes, that means I wash often. But I have soap despenser that has a slot to hold a sponge. THis slot is a little larger than my sponge so I also keep a bottle brush, a tooth brush and a nail brush in there. I can easily clean my nails when they get stuff under them that way.

You reminded me of a story my mom tells. Back in the day (1930's or 1940's) there were 2 hospitals on Staten Island. Mom's family doctor used one where long or artificial nails were not allowed on the nursing staff. (It was run by nuns then so that may have had something to do with it.) Between the skin and the nail is a great place for germs to breed. The other hospital had nurses who were allowed long fingernails. They were required to put a penicillin cream under their nails. The first hospital had fewer staff infections than the second. In fact there was a huge difference. The second hospital finally went to the same policy of no nails and their staff infection rate dropped way down.

I love long nails, too. But in my little world they are for special events not the everyday. Actually I'm basically too lazy to worry about it.

I cut mine short , but I play the piano, and that is also a factor.

Eye,
Great example and exactly why my nails had to go bye bye quickly. I have a dear friend who is a dental hygenist and probally one of the most germaphobic people I know go though a very disturbing event with her nails. She decided that she wanted to have her nails done for a wedding she was attending and went and had a set put on. With in a few days of working and what not she began to notice black spots under her nail polish. She pointed them out to me and I told her to run not walk to the salon and have them taken off, mine had already been long removed. When they removed her nails not 1 but 4 of her nails were almost entirely black, the woman tried to tell her it was "water stains" and wanted her to put a new set on, my friend being a firecracker told this woman that she may have been born at night but it wasn't last night and there would be no more nails. Long story short she had to take a "vacation" from work as the dentist would not allow her to work until her nails cleared up. So she went to her Dr got a prescription for nail fungus and is now on "vacation". She is just beside her self.

I agree with pmw109 - when I went to Culinary School (Pastry) not only where we told to cut the nails very short, no polish, no rings, no dangling earrings with the exception of post earrings. We were only allowed to wear a watch and a wedding ring, no engagement ring.

Short nails are so much easier to deal with than trying to pick stuff from your nails.

I guess I was just most suprised by the fact that this obviously well established much respected challenger on the FN challenge would allow their assistant to have acrylic nails on. Again I do want to say that this woman was clearly very good at what she does and was instrumental in their subsquent victory in this particular challenge. I am also very aware that no one will proablly ever eat this particular cake. Still it stuck me as odd, ya know?

Fake nails are so 80's. Lmao!

be that as it may...there is a nail shop on every corner so what does that tell ya

Properly attached and maintained acrylic nails do not pop off without you knowing it and they do not allow fungus to grow underneath. Trust me, when I smacked one of my acrylics hard enough for it to pop off, you could hear the scream all the way to the top of the Himalayas (I am not, of course, speaking of home-done Lee press-on nails, those never stick completely). Nail polish also sticks to the acrylic better than to natural nails, so polish doesn't flake off. That being said, I wouldn't accept food prepared from anyone who didn't look like they cared about the condition of their hands, real or fake nails.

i dont know about everywhere else but in my area if you work with food its a health code violation to have fake nails or nail polish

no fake nails, no long unkept nails, no nail polish, yes on glove use.

I am a food-nazi on glove use with my crew. At my wedding this past Friday night, I had 7 people working and we went thru almost a full box of 100 sets of gloves .... and this is more than fine with me!!!!

Yes in my area as well, it is against health codes to have fake nails, nail polish, or any jewerly when you are working w/ food. I thought that was the norm everywhere.

Mia,
You are very right about nails popping off without anyone knowing it. The problem with my self and my friend was that our hands are always in water to some extent. I wash my hands about a zillion times a day it seems. I had my nails filled every 4 to 7 days. It was a constant battle. I had tried diffrent salons to see if it was just the product they used but unfortunatly had the same results. So I think you are right about them not popping off without someone knowing it (unless you are using those silly drug store stick on nails). But I do not necessarly agree with the fungus statement, as I am sure you are aware your nails will always lift when getting closer to your fill date and as such even the tinest lift will allow mositure, food particles, and air to enter which of course is a perfect breeding ground for fungus.
To me having my nails done was becoming more of a chore than anything and the reputation of my business is far more important than having acrylic nails. Don't get me wrong however I still go and have regular pedicures as often as my schedule allows much to my Hubby's dismay

I only do cakes as a hobby, but my other job is that of a sonographer (ultrasound tech). No hospital employee who has direct patient contact is allowed to have fake nails and gloves are a must.

I often wondered about the show "How it's Made" . I see factory or assembly line workers sporting a fresh set of acrylics. I think it's done as a little confidence booster and the opportunity of being in front of the camera. Their hands are filmed close up. I guess if I was making an appearance, I'd also want to do something with my hands. Of course, I'd remove them the next day. Just a thought. Who knows? : )

I went thru a fast food drive thru (major chain) and the young man who handed me my bag had nails longer than a woman and they were black underneath!! Needless to say I am NEVER going there again! Where is the manager at this place! You can bet your pa-tooty that hands like that will NOT be found in my kitchen!

I have gotten my nails done since I was in high school & stopped about a year ago. I really miss it. I needed a me day & got my hair cut & was about to walk into the nail salon when I thought about how many cookie orders I had in the next week. Sadly I kept on walking. I can't imagine how hard it would be to decorate with nails.

Oh well

There was a "Friends" episode about this where Monica was catering an event for her mom and she wanted to prove herself because she thought her mother had no confidence in her. Coincidently, she just gotten some fake nails put on and one fell in one of the dishes. It was a pretty funny episode.

I do not have acrilyc nails although I've had them in the past, but many years ago. I don't get manicures either but it would be nice because my nails are very soft and constantly breaking and splitting. I do get regular pedicures, but I run so I justify the expense for them because if I didn't my feet would just be nasty and subject to runner's toe.

I'm in culinary school and we are not allowed to have long fingernails, rings, nail polish and especially fake nails since they are more likely to trap bacteria. The chef said if someone refuses to take off the fake nails they are kicked out of the program. Luckily for me, my nails are shorter and easy to manage.

I couldn't imagine finding a nail in food--ewwwww.