The five most common foodborne illnesses are norovirus, salmonella, clostridium perfringens, campylobacteriosis, and staph aureus. Approximately 25% of people and animals have staph bacteria on their skin and in their noses, which usually doesn’t cause infections in healthy people. However, staph bacteria can make toxins that cause food poisoning. If someone with the bacteria prepares food without wearing gloves, and the food isn’t heat-treated, the bacteria grow, toxins develop, and customers can contract a foodborne illness.
Wearing gloves while handling food requires a careful balance. As a food safety professional, it’s disheartening to see servers wearing gloves but not changing them between tasks, such as, cleaning tables, handling money, or serving food. When you ask a food worker how often they change their gloves, many are quick to say between every task, but if you look into the garbage can or inventory at the end of the day, it is apparent that they aren’t following protocol.
Unfortunately, most kitchen staff don’t change their gloves often enough either. I recently observed a counter-person preparing bagels: one with whitefish salad and tomato, one with bacon and egg, and lastly, one with tofu. In all three cases, he touched the food with his gloved hands—the same gloved hands! He also used a knife, wrapped the bagels, wrote the price on them with a Sharpie, and wiped the counter with a cloth rag. He didn’t change his gloves the entire time. In this case, the lack of glove changing is more than a sanitary issue where we have to worry about salmonella, E.coli, and staph; we need to also worry about cross-contamination of allergens, be conscious about religious and cultural practices for people who don’t eat pork, and consider the vegans among us who don’t consume any animal products.
The federal food code states that, “Food employees may not contact exposed, ready-to-eat food with their bare hands and shall use suitable utensils such as deli tissue, spatulas, tongs, single-use gloves, or dispensing equipment.” Handling ready-to-eat food that isn’t going to receive any additional heat treatment is the most significant point that gloves should be worn in a kitchen. Many employees also like to wear them when handling dirty dishes, garbage, and cleaning to protect themselves.
Handwashing and wearing gloves prevents foodborne illnesses because they limit the cross-contamination of foods. Before putting on gloves, employees must wash their hands using an appropriate method. Studies show that most foodborne illness comes from employees not following proper food safety guidelines and is therefore preventable.
It’s the food service manager’s obligation to teach their staff about the proper use of gloves. My recommendation is to use color-coded gloves. Use green gloves for sanitation, purple gloves for clean dishes, clear gloves for ready-to-eat food, and yellow gloves for serving the food.
Beth Torin, RD, MA
Chief Operating Officer
bettercallbeth.com
Beth Torin served as the Executive Director for the New York City Department of Health Office of Food Safety (NYCDOHMH) for 14 years.
