{"id":5048,"date":"2020-04-23T15:04:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T19:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wasserstrom.com\/blog\/?p=5048"},"modified":"2020-05-21T07:53:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T11:53:46","slug":"best-practices-for-glove-use-in-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wasserstrom.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/23\/best-practices-for-glove-use-in-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Glove Use in Restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"
The New Normal<\/a>: Part of a new series of articles focused on restaurant recovery; issues, best practices, and process changes that will become part of everyday business going forward.<\/em><\/h5>\n

Glove use is going to increase dramatically<\/strong> for restaurants and foodservice workers in the post-COVID-19 era. Unfortunately, gloves can provide a false sense of security<\/strong> for workers. Now is the time to begin training your employees on the best practices for glove use<\/strong> in restaurants and foodservice.<\/p>\n

It’s Not About You<\/h2>\n

The most common misconception<\/strong> we hear about glove use in restaurants is that the glove is used to protect the worker<\/strong>. While this may be true, that is not the intention of using gloves in a restaurant or foodservice setting. Instead, gloves are meant to avoid cross-contamination<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Cross-contamination is\u00a0the process by which bacteria, viruses, or other micro-organisms are unintentionally transferred from one surface, substance, or object to another, with harmful effects.<\/p>\n

The FDA<\/a> is pretty clear about the need to use gloves properly, stating, “Gloves may serve as a source of cross-contamination if misused<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The revised Food Code of 2017<\/a> states:<\/p>\n

“Except when washing fruits and vegetables…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<\/strong>, or dispensing EQUIPMENT.”<\/h5>\n

In other words, if it is food that is going to be consumed without further cooking or preparation, you cannot touch it with your bare hands.<\/p>\n

\"Single-use<\/p>\n

Single-Use Means Just That<\/h2>\n

We may refer to them as “disposable gloves<\/strong>” or by the name of what they are made of like “nitrile gloves<\/strong>” or “vinyl gloves<\/strong>.” But they are collectively known as “single-use gloves<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Single-use means that a pair of gloves should only be used for one activity<\/strong>. If you switch to a new activity, you should use a new pair of gloves.<\/p>\n

If you switch to do the same activity on a different food product, you should also change gloves.<\/p>\n

When to Change Gloves<\/h2>\n

OK. So we have established that you should change gloves when you change activities. But that doesn’t mean that you should keep the same pair of gloves on all day if you are only doing one thing. There are a number of other reasons to change your gloves.<\/p>\n