Widespread Disposable Glove Contamination Reported
Food Safety News article:
https://www.foodsafe...es/#more-221742
Need everybody's opinion: is it possible? I personally doubt it.
I read this article too and yes it is possible. If the worker at the glove facility has poor GMPs it is likely the gloves could be contaminated. At one facility I worked at, we had to change glove brands because the gloves were burning our hands. Felt like a chemical burn. It happened to maybe 10 of us but we weren't sure if it was really the gloves or dry hands or just people complaining at first because it was so sporadic that it would happen. it wasn't every glove.
I mean, I agree to extent, i doubt the packaging goes through a form of sterilization like UV. Cardboard isn't the most sanitary anyways. If it is not glued to be air tight - is that how the mold findings were occurring in their study? was there a hole in any of the packaging noted prior to testing? How many boxes from each supplier did they use? Did they choose any that stated for use in food and beverage? were they all the same blue nitrile gloves, no powder?
Overall, the study didn't provide me with enough information to want to buy their gloves. I haven't bought gloves in a while but i did see the pricing - i think its comparable. I would need more info about the study to truly decide https://eagleprotect...m-shitty-gloves
I was reading that in the airport the other day and found the article kinda inflamatory.
Due to how the article was written, it might appear to joe blow consumer that food manufactures are using gloves that are not "clean and intact" on a regular basis because the FDA doesn't "require it"
They cite the CFR section for indirect food additives. which is correct, there is no guidance as to cleanliness and intactness. However, we all know gloves are covered in the cGMPs.
If there testing is correct, I would agree that new gloves that have pathogens present its very bad. On the flip side, IMO, any open box of gloves should not be considered free of bacteria or even free of pathogens. Also, they do not mention how their gloves are free of bacteria as well as pathogens only that they test them. which I think we can agree probably offers very little assurance.
wouldn't purchasing sterile gloves be a better solution?
I will start by saying I'm anti glove, for lots of reasons so I'm biased--they are not worn properly, they are not used properly, and hands are not washed properly before putting them on
Perfectly plausible, and I am not surprised by the findings, particularly given that the research was performed on imported gloves coming from parts of the world where the standards are not what the western world is used to or expects
We use sterile gloves when sampling and this is part of the reason why
Just like it did to N95 and similar masks that were contaminated with dorment parasitic margellons that activated from moist warm air (breath.)
Food Safety News article:
https://www.foodsafe...es/#more-221742
Need everybody's opinion: is it possible? I personally doubt it.
Hi olenazh,
I agree, I don’t believe the headline “Pathogens found on half of the food-safety gloves”, it all seems like one big marketing ploy :whoosh:
But I will say that even if staff are wearing gloves the same hand-washing and disinfection procedures should apply.
In addition, if you are using gloves to protect the food from contamination then your supplier assurance of the glove supplier and monitoring of the standard of the gloves (including micro) are clearly very important.
Kind regards,
Tony
etc
Probably a bit inflammatory, but there is a report referenced in the article (I have not read it). The report was published in the Journal of Food Protection, which is a well-respected journal associated with IAFP.
Keith
Have to take it with a grain of salt, considering it's a study commissioned by the CEO of a glove manufacturer. But if the data proves accurate, acknowledging they worked with independent labs on the results, those findings are pretty shocking...
It seems possible despite the self interest of the commissioner, and reminds me strongly of the Heilbronn Phantom (German police though they were on the trail of a serial killer but ultimately the swabs they were using at the crime scenes had been contaminated at the point of manufacture.)
Food Safety News article:
https://www.foodsafe...es/#more-221742
Need everybody's opinion: is it possible? I personally doubt it.
Most of them are just packed into a cardboard box. I'd be amazed if the majority were sanitary right out of the container.