When is it necessary to change your gloves while handling food?

Changing gloves when starting a new task is essential for preventing cross-contamination. Each food-handling task may involve different types of food or handling raw and cooked items. By using fresh gloves for each distinct task, you minimize the risk of transferring harmful bacteria or allergens from one food item to another. For instance, if you handle raw meat and then immediately start preparing a salad without changing gloves, you could inadvertently contaminate the salad with bacteria from the raw meat.

While changing gloves after every use, hourly, or when they become wet could seem beneficial, these practices do not specifically address the critical aspect of cross-contamination related to different food handling tasks. Therefore, the requirement to change gloves between tasks is a crucial practice for maintaining food safety and hygiene in food service environments.