Food Gloves & Latex Allergy Education
Politicians joke about the endless stretch of rubber chicken dinners they may consume in an election year. For people with a latex allergy, such a prospect may be no laughing matter. While latex serves as an effective barrier glove material and has the best fit because of its elasticity, the risks associated should not be ignored. The solution is not simple and many options are available for operators today. It should always be mentioned that handwashing (before putting on gloves) is always the primary barrier to contamination and gloves are considered a good secondary barrier.
What is latex and the allergy? Natural rubber latex (NRL) is derived from the sap of the rubber tree, and is found in a variety of 40,000+ common consumer products such as rubber bands, balloons, shoes, underwear, plus a large number of medical devices. Latex allergy is a reaction to certain proteins in latex rubber. The amount of latex exposure needed to product sensitization is unknown, but can develop over time. Mild reactions to latex involve skin redness, hives, or itching. More severe reactions may involve respiratory symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing itchy eyes, scratchy throat, and asthma, with the most severe being anaphylactic shock in highly sensitized persons. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, about 1-6% of the general population and 8-12% of regularly exposed health care workers are allergic to latex in varying degrees. A small percentage of the highly sensitized people have reported reactions to food prepared with latex gloves.
Sufferers of NRL allergies are often people who are sensitized to other food allergies. They often have a cross reactive allergy to citrus fruits and nuts such as avocados, bananas, kiwi, chestnuts, almonds, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, and papaya. People with spina bifida are also at increased risk for latex allergy. If you think you are allergic to latex, get an accurate diagnosis from your doctor.
Food Regulations–With the prevalent use of latex and following the first diagnosed reaction in 1979, latex allergy is now mentioned in the most recent FDA food regulation—the 2013 Food Code. There are caution statements, but no ban from FDA. A committee of experts has studied the issue with no recommendation to go as far as banning latex for food contact at this point. A few states have chosen in their regulations to allow only non-latex gloves for food handling including Arizona, Oregon, and Rhode Island. Six other states have a less stringent recommendation to not use latex gloves for food handling or post a notice that latex gloves are in use (WA, KS, MI, MA, WI, NY). See the full NBHC map >
What about the glove powder? Some latex gloves contain donning 
powder (usually corn starch) which is a part of the manufacturing process. Powder also aides in slipping the glove on the hand. Latex proteins can bind to the powder granules and either remain on the skin when the glove is removed or release into the air when gloves are removed. It’s important to wash hands before and after the use of gloves to remove any powder from the skin to lessen the chance of sensitization. High quality, powder-free latex gloves have a drastically lower level of NRL protein and lessen the chance of sensitization over time. Some prominent hospitals have chosen to use quality powder-free latex gloves to create “latex-safe” environments.
Quality alternatives to latex —For those whom powder-free gloves are not enough, many non-latex alternatives are available. While no synthetic material is able to perfectly match latex in its exact fit and memory, many glove types will provide the dexterity for the food task. Higher quality vinyl or polyethylene gloves will handle most food handling tasks, with poly being the lowest cost. New synthetic alternatives have emerged, such as FoodHandler’s TekNique gloves, that look and feel like latex, have some elasticity, and are comparable in cost to vinyl or NRL. Nitrile gloves are also a synthetic option at a bit higher cost.
Food gloves are important tools in reducing the risk of foodborne illness transmission with proper use. Coupled with handwashing and utensils, gloves can provide an invaluable level of protection. Knowledgeable operators who understand the risks as well as the benefits of latex gloves, coupled with informed decisions concerning latex alternatives can prove to be effective in combating latex allergies.
Bottom Line: Those who suffer from the latex allergy must practice avoidance. FoodHandler advocates a two-pronged approach to addressing latex allergy in foodservice. (1) Managers must be educated about the potential risks to workers and consumers. (2) Provide high quality latex-free alternatives at those foodservice facilities choosing to eliminate the use of latex gloves. If you have more questions, contact FoodHandler
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About the Author: Lacie Thrall
Lacie Thrall passed away in early 2017 after a long illness. She dedicated her 35-year career to improving the health and well-being of others by promoting food safety best practices. Lacie worked in environmental health for 17 years before joining FoodHandler in 1997 as the Director of Safety Management. While at FoodHandler, she trained employees and customers on safe food handling practices, including proper hand hygiene and glove use. Later as a FoodHandler consultant, Lacie provided the foodservice industry with food safety information and advice through her blog on FoodHandler.com.
Foodborne Illness Myths & Facts
“It must have been something I ate.” That’s the typical statement when a person develops some relatively minor symptoms from food. Maybe not severe enough to go to the doctor so you choose to tough it out without medical care. Sudden onset of flu-like symptoms such as onset of stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever could possibly mean you are the victim of a foodborne illness. The illness is sometimes referred to as “food poisoning”, but it’s often misdiagnosed.
Don’t Compromise: Clean and Sanitize
The subject is cleaning and sanitizing. Chefs, food service directors, managers and staff try to practice safe food-handling at every turn in the kitchen. Don’t let that effort go down the drain by slacking off on the many aspects of sanitation. That includes dish and ware-washing techniques (pots, pans, equipment), and cleaning all the areas that give us that “neat as a pin” appearance in your customers eyes. Customers seldom fail to bring that soiled silverware or glass with lipstick on it to the attention of the manager or wait staff. Improperly cleaning and sanitizing of food contact equipment does allow transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to food and ultimately our customer.
The Route to Safer Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Although fruits and vegetables are one of the healthiest foods sources in our diet, we continue to have foodborne disease outbreaks of significance from produce, sometimes affecting large groups of people in multiple states because of their wide distribution. The CDC estimates that fresh produce now causes a huge number of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States. Produce needs our continued food safety efforts at the restaurant level as well as at the stages in agricultural production. Occasionally, fresh fruits and vegetables can become contaminated with harmful bacteria or viruses, such as Salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7, Norovirus, and Hepatitis A. This contamination can occur at any point from the field to our table. If eaten, contaminated fruits and vegetables can cause foodborne illness.
Be Cool, Chill Out, Refrigerate Promptly!
The Cold Chain -- Keeping perishable foods at proper cold holding temperatures (between 28°F and 41°F maximum or 0°F for frozen food) from your food producers / manufacturers to your customers has to be one of our strongest links to safe food and high quality. Sometimes that is referred to in the food industry as “maintaining the COLD CHAIN”. Any slip ups in the cold chain, and we have a weak link. Most all of our state food regulations require 41°F as a cold maximum, but colder is a “best practice” policy to maintain.
