Today is Global Glove Safety Day

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif., Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Food safety icon Darin Detwiler and Eagle Protect are spearheading the inaugural 'Global Glove Safety Day' on September 18. This day serves as a powerful reminder that food safety is truly #InOurHands, both in a literal and figurative sense. It also underscores the critical role that safe food handling gloves play while honoring the memory of Dr Detwiler's son, Riley, who tragically passed away at 16 months from E.coli in 1993.

Why does Global Glove Safety Day matter?
Over 100 billion protective gloves are used in the United States every year by workers in multiple industries, including food processing and food service. 90 percent of the US supply is imported.

Thought to protect wearers and consumers, a large proportion of gloves imported every year contain microbial contaminants that can be injurious, infectious, and even fatal.

What is the evidence?
A peer-reviewed paper published in July 2024 in the Journal of Food Protection spotlighted the variety of pathogens found in gloves imported into the US.

Pathogens include Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Anthrax. The deaths of four babies have been linked to gloves contaminated with the fungi Aspergillus. An independent test of 2,800 gloves from 26 different glove brands found human fecal indicator organisms in 46 percent of gloves tested. 

Why gloves are contaminated?
Polluted water sources used in manufacturing and the absence of any regulatory testing or oversight on arrival make for a perfect storm of contamination.

What are the effects?
Contaminated gloves have been responsible for recalls as a result of food contamination. The average direct cost of a food recall is $10 million. Further impairments include immediate loss in sales, long-lasting reputational damage, litigation, multi-million-dollar fines, incarceration, government regulation, and bankruptcy.

What are the solutions?

1. Glove safety awareness by business owners and workers. Educate users on the correct procedures for donning, using, and disposing of gloves.
2. Buy gloves from independently audited suppliers, and gloves which have been third-party tested.
3. Buy gloves that have proven durability and are less likely to fail (rip) and cause foreign material contamination.
4. Challenge your corporate procurement department to buy quality gloves. It's not going to cost more.

Dr. Darin Detwiler said, "Gloves are the last line of defense between food products and the consumer. There's a false sense of security if we're making the assumption that any old glove will do, any old manufacturer will do. People have no idea when opening a fresh new box of gloves and taking a pair out that they may be contaminated, that they are already starting in a deficit situation. If food safety is in our hands, then we should get it right when it comes to gloves."

Steve Ardagh, CEO of Eagle Protect said, "Global Glove Safety Day is designed to highlight the notion that food safety professionals need to look much deeper into the gloves they source and take steps to stop importing contamination through dirty gloves. Imagine being a Food Safety Professional and finding out that what they thought was protection was actually potential infection!"

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SOURCE Eagle Protect