PAS 220 - Latex Gloves

Dear All,

Under Section 13.4 of PAS 220 : 2008 it was mentioned that:

Where gloves are used for the product contact, they shall be clean and in good condition.

Note: Use of latex gloves should be avoided where possible.

Does any know what is the background for this note?

If latex gloves to be avoided what other options we have?

Does this implies that we may avoid usage of gloves?

Thanks in advance

Warm Regards

V.R. Reddy

Dear All,

Under Section 13.4 of PAS 220 : 2008 it was mentioned that:

Where gloves are used for the product contact, they shall be clean and in good condition.

Note: Use of latex gloves should be avoided where possible.

Does any know what is the background for this note?

If latex gloves to be avoided what other options we have?

Does this implies that we may avoid usage of gloves?

Thanks in advance

Warm Regards

V.R. Reddy

I believe the statement is in reference to potential allergic reactions to latex gloves in both your employees and through cross contact with food. See the websites below:

http://www.suite101....x_allergy/74136
http://www.michigan....x6-1_6355_7.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/19044282

PAS 220 does not say which they prefer and I think the use of gloves is up to you based on your customers, your risks and regulatory guidelines for your area (We don't require gloves and just passed FSSC 22000). I saw a recent article on site somewhere that denounced the use of gloves with studies showing there were more risks with gloves than without.

We have a constant battle going at our facility with half the people saying gloves are needed and the other saying no. Personally I am on the "No" side unless someone has a physical ailment that needs to be covered. IMO, someone without gloves will recognize that their hands are dirty before someone with gloves recognizes their gloves are dirty.

Yep IMO there are two reasons; latex allergy which can then be linked to food allergies (probably a H&S reason for that as well because if you give your staff latex allergies then it could be argued you have injured them) and also there is this perception in peoples heads that gloves = clean. In the UK I have lost count of the number of times I've seen deli / sandwich shop staff handle money with gloves on then handle the goods. Nowadays if I see that I walk out. However, there is also an argument that if they are managed well, glove use can help minimise contamination.

Personally, I reckon, avoid hand contact if you can (use utensils), if not possible, enforce good hand hygiene, however if glove use is still needed, use nitrile gloves which are less likely to cause reactions and also are chemical resisitant if used for other tasks, e.g. cleaning (latex are not). Oh and if you do use gloves you must ensure there is a system to encourage frequent changes. In one factory they did this by having to change colour of gloves when the product changed which was effective because the production runs were short (<1 hour normally).

Dear All,

Under Section 13.4 of PAS 220 : 2008 it was mentioned that:

Where gloves are used for the product contact, they shall be clean and in good condition.

Note: Use of latex gloves should be avoided where possible.

Does any know what is the background for this note?

If latex gloves to be avoided what other options we have?

Does this implies that we may avoid usage of gloves?

Thanks in advance

Warm Regards

V.R. Reddy

There are many types of food grade non-latex gloves, the statement does not mean you need to avoid gloves.

There is some sound advice on using gloves from GMO in this forum, to add to it I would say you should be looking to minimise the amount of handling of the product. Hands by their nature are not the cleanest of things!

Regards,

Tony