When to wear gloves?

Hi, I could not find the exact answer in a search so I figured I would ask here. I know its proper to wear gloves when handling raw material and un-packaged products, but what about after packaging? In my example, we wear gloves hats ect. during the production of Candy Mints, but after the mints are packaged, is it still a requirement to wear the gloves? It is very hard to pack the trays by hand with gloves on. Is there any other way? Would an FDA hand sanitizer be ok for after packaging?

Thanks , Mike

Hi Mike

There is often debate on the forums regarding hand washing & sanitizing vs. use of gloves but this is generally for handling RTE food directly. For packed products this seems OTT, although I would still expect good hand washing practices to be in place.

Regards,

Tony

We have our people wearing gloves as they deal with the raw products and ingredients, but one it our product is packaged gloves are not required.  Those in the packaging area have a different color glove to use that identifies them as not handling raw ingredients.  

We have similar GMPs for gloves. Very few tasks require food grade gloves, but other personnel wear gloves for various reasons, such as protection of hands from heat of packaged products. These are color coded so that when we see these gloves on, we are not watching for strict glove procedures, e.g., not handling cartons, case cutters, etc. Still, hands should be washed after removing gloves.