What are food grade gloves?
Food grade gloves are gloves that meet standards for safe contact with food. In the food industry, safety and hygiene are of paramount importance. The food contact regulation of FDA state that food handlers should wear disposable gloves for the protection of themselves and customers.
Gloves provide a good barrier between food handler's hands and bacteria, not only slowing down the growth rate of microorganisms on food contact surfaces, but also effectively avoiding the risk of dandruff nail loss on the hands. In conclusion,food grade gloves can effectively prevent the spread and infection of bacteria and viruses, which makes them the first line of defense against foodborne illness.
There are many different types of food grade gloves on the market, and the following types are common:
TYPE | Food Grade PE Gloves | Food Grade PVC Gloves | Food Grade Latex Gloves | Food grade nitrile gloves |
raw materials | Polyethylene | Polyvinyl chloride | Natural rubber | Acrylonitrile, Butadiene |
Advantages | Waterproof cheap Easy to wear | Waterproof, oilproof Cost-effective good fit Hypoallergenic Easy to clean | High elasticity and flexibility Comfortable to wear, good tactile sensitivity Strong durability Water and oil resistant Biodegradable, environmentally friendly | Strong durability Non-allergenic Highly resistant to chemicals Water and oil resistant Good tactile sensitivity Powder-free design Multi-color classification |
disadvantages | Poor elasticity, non-breathable Not durable Poor chemical resistance Poor comfort Not environmentally friendly | Poor elasticity, inflexible Limited chemical resistance Not environmentally friendly Long-term exposure to high temperatures, risk of plasticizer precipitation | Allergy risk Poor resistance to oil, grease, organic solvents Higher price | High price cost due to environmentally friendly raw material additives |
Applicable Scenarios | Dining area, retail industry, for short-term protection | Catering cold processing, retail | Laboratory, storagel | All aspects of food processing, especially handling raw meat, oily foods or acidic fruits |
The use of food grade gloves is becoming more and more widespread, but some businessmen use gloves that are easy to tear and penetrate in order to reduce costs.These gloves are likely to be permeated with bacteria and viruses. Wearing such gloves will inevitably cause serious contamination of food, which directly affects food safety.
Gloves used for food handling should meet the following requirements:
① Conform to relevant standards
All gloves claiming to be food contactable need to pass stringent tests for food-grade contact-safe materials. Different countries and regions have their own standards. Testing organizations need to conduct tests according to the relevant national standards. For example, food-grade gloves in China need to pass the GB 4806 standard, while those in the US need to pass the FDA's Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Nowadays, food certifications by some authoritative organizations are also recognized by many countries, such as the food standard test by SGS. When choosing a food-grade glove, you first need to make sure that it meets the relevant standards for food-grade gloves.
②durability
Food processing inevitably need to use knives and other sharp objects.When handling foods,handlers often need to carry out repeated operations such as cutting vegetables. Therefore, the puncture resistance and abrasion resistance of gloves is very important. Puncture resistance can effectively prevent the staff's hands from being hurt by sharp objects. Abrasion resistance adapts to longer periods of high-frequency work. Both characteristics help to improve the durability of the gloves, so that the gloves are not easy to break, and can effectively prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses.
Food cooking means high temperatures. Durable food grade gloves also need to be resistant to high temperatures. KINGFA food grade nitrile gloves maintain their performance at 40 degrees Celsius to ensure the safety of the user.
③ AQL
The FDA states that gloves used for food handling should be impermeable materials. Food grade gloves use basically waterproof materials. The main factor that affects whether a glove is permeable to water is the AQL.The AQL requirements for disposable gloves vary depending on the scenario in which they are used. Medical grade gloves have an AQL of 1.5, which is the highest of all glove types. Lower AQL means lower probability of pinholes in gloves. When gloves are used for food handling, an AQL of 4 is acceptable. Anything higher than this increases the risk of hand injuries and the spread of bacteria.
④Resistant to oil and chemicals
Meat processing often comes into contact with a lot of grease, which is difficult to clean from hands.. In the food processing field, workers are also exposed to chemicals when cleaning tools. Gloves that are resistant to oil and chemicals protect workers from oil and chemicals. KINGFA food grade nitrile gloves are resistant to chemical precipitation, especially alcohols and acids. Our prosucts do not precipitate chemicals even after prolonged contact to ensure that food is not contaminated.
⑤Color is easy to identify
The food processing industry works at a fast pace.If you wear gloves that are similar in color to the ingredients, it will be difficult to identify broken pieces of gloves that have been mixed into the food if the staff is negligent. Blue gloves are recommended for food grade gloves. Blue is a food-safe color and will form a stronger contrast with most food colors, which can effectively reduce the incidence of food safety accidents. KINGFA colorful food-grade nitrile gloves use environmentally friendly color pastes that won't contaminate food.
Precautions for using food grade gloves:
① Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before putting on the gloves to make sure that the gloves you are wearing are intact and in a sanitary condition.
②After wearing gloves, separate raw food and cooked food to avoid contamination.
③Replace the gloves after contacting anything not related to food.
