Handling cooked product without gloves

This is related to some technical clarification of handling the cooked Arabic bread (Tortilla's) by open hand without any gloves.

The process owner is mentioning that the due to high temperature of the plant,  the employees are instructed not to wear the gloves by the top management.

This is to avoid the dripping of the employees sweat.  The company ensures the employees are doing frequent hand washes every 1 hour during the job, which is monthly verified by swab testing. Is this an acceptable practice.

Hi, While improving process in the food handling business we can always opt for low risk alternative methods if machines and technology are absent.

May gloves influences more sweat and contaminates the bread or

Repetition of hand washing makes the step boring for workers and dilution of hand washing and contaminates the bread.

Above two options consider which is lower risky as per thought.

Kind regards

H.reddy

Definitely based on risk without gloves is acceptable, but cleaning frequency should be set through validation. Also validation study should be maintained along with training to staff, food complaints, swab testing, verification analysis to support the process control. Anyother opinion on this.

I don't believe gloves are essential for a few reasons, firstly damage to gloves causing foreign bodies, damage to packs that gloves are supplied in (Cardboard/plastic) causing foreign bodies  & also lack of staff knowledge often leads to staff thinking that they are wearing "magic" gloves that don't need to be changed regularly or washed. 

I have seen staff wearing gloves pick stuff up off the floor, or blow their nose  & then handle food directly afterwards!... all because they think the gloves render their hands food safe....wherever their hands have been.

Regular hand washing, validation of the timing of this & regular handswabbing (s aureus & coliforms/enteros) should manage the risk (and reduce the budget for PPE)

I agree with Leslie..........I think gloves should be the last resort (unless it's for employee health and safety)

Doesn't have to be "heavy duty" glovesof course.

I totally disagree with previous posts.

And so does the US Retail Food Code.

There is an encyclopedic thread on this basic topic on this forum. Individual opinions do often suggest  that washing should be sufficient. Hopefully no "carriers" are employed.

Ah yes, but have you seen the way food service workers work Charles?  Gloves or no gloves IMHO...........we've all seen RETAIL workers do all sorts of horrendous things whilst wearing gloves..........and if they had to wash everytime they prepared food they would never touch the floor, handle cash, grasp disgusting cloth food service and food manufacturing cannot be compared apples to apples

And I will add also in IME, the US requirement for glove use always (without all the other required steps) has spread like the plague around the world as they "gold standard" for FOOD period....to whit i disagree as does the FAO