Food Handling Gloves In Bakeries

Food handlers or operators in bakeries  more often comes into manual contact to perform activity in  pre mixing ( addition of ingredients & chemicals) ,mixing ( check dough consistency) , baking ( remove defectives ) , stacking ( packing) .Manufacturers provide workers with protective gloves to prevent cross contamination ,microbes and bacteria from handlers hand .Wearing gloves is not mandatory in most countries but still as per good manufacturing practices manufacturers provide their workers  with food handling gloves


Conventional method which most of the bakeries still use is  to provide wash basins  near to working areas  with potassium permanganate solution  to wash their hands in frequent intervals .


PVC  thin clear transparent disposable  gloves

These gloves are preferred gloves for  food handlers as its cheap in comparison to latex or vinyl gloves .Even while wearing these gloves workers should be trained to switch over to new pairs in case of damage or high perspiration in hands .One has to wash his hands and use dryer  before putting up new gloves  . These types of gloves are mostly used  where glove changing is frequently required .


Latex  disposable gloves

These gloves are required for handling of hot objects  such hot cookies while at baking section or removing defective biscuits from oven or depaning  operations , oven loading or unloading  in bakery manufacturing process.Its also used in area where workers have to handle chemicals .Latex gloves are costlier than PVC poly gloves  hence it is used only where you cannot  replace it withpvc poly gloves.These have to be washed and sanitised for multiple use .These gloves could sometimes results in rashes and itching.

Guidelines for Gloves
 

•      Wash hands properly before and after wearing or changing to a new pair of gloves
•      Use gloves that fit properly and that are designed for the task at hand
•      Change gloves whenever tasks change or whenever an employee leaves his/her workstation
•     Sneezing, coughing or touching one's hair or face with a gloved hand all require hand washing and a   new  pair of gloves
•     Because perspiration and bacteria buildup under gloves, wash hands and switch to a fresh pair periodically

Few experts  are  of the view that  gloves  are as harmful as manual contact . These gloves develops  pinholes when damaged which may not be visible by naked eyes , this may then results in bacterial contamination of hands.Workers never remove these gloves as often as required.Expert still believes the  conventional method of hand washing  to gloves