“Gloves give a false sense of security” is standard food safety banter when talking about the use of gloves in food service.

My version is, “It doesn’t matter whether someone making a sandwich or salad is wearing gloves or not if they pick their nose, explore their ear or scratch their butt and then continue to prepare food.”

A paper published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology "The Dirty Hand in the Latex Glove: A Study of Hand-Hygiene Compliance When Gloves Are Worn," takes up a similar issue in hospitals. The study was summarized by The Atlantic.

Problem: Gloves reduce germ transmission in situations where contact with body fluids is expected. Their use, however, is not a substitute for handwashing before and after patient contact, since germs can still get through latex and hands can be contaminated by "back spray" when gloves are removed.

Methodology: Researchers in the U.K. led by Sheldon Stoneof the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust observed glove use and hand-hygiene practices involving 7,578 patient contacts in 56 intensive care units in 15 hospitals.

Results: Gloves were used in just over a quarter of the patient contacts and were absent in 141 of 669 high-risk contacts. Use of gloves was strongly associated with poor hand hygiene as well. While only half of those who didn't wear gloves washed their hands before and after coming into contact with a patient, the rate for those who wore gloves was even lower at just 41.4 percent.

Conclusion: Hand hygiene is a serious problem in hospitals. Healthcare workers who wear gloves may be relying too much on their ability to prevent transmission, as they clean their hands before and after patient contact much less frequently.

Implication: This failure of basic hand hygiene could be contributing to the spread of infection, the researchers say in a statement. Hand-hygiene campaigns should consider placing greater emphasis on the World Health Organization's indications for glove use.

A Darwin, Australia couple was outraged this week to find a glove buried in a beef noodle dish they bought from a 24-hour take-away outlet.

Evelyn Nicholson and Rod Jockway told the NT News they made the discovery at Uncle Sam's in Darwin.

"I thought it was a tough piece of meat," Mr Nicholson said.

"I pushed it to one side and said I'd tackle it later.

"It turned out to be a glove."

The couple reportedly complained to Northern Territory health authorities after confronting the manager, who denied ever serving them the beef meal.

NT News reporter Conor Byrne, who wrote the story, said the glove was an indication the restaurant had made attempts to be hygienic.
 

Gonzalo already blogged about the last episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey in which the ladies were preparing for Thanksgiving. I, however, am a bit behind on my television viewing and just got to the episode today on the DVR.

Caroline’s family went to visit their daughter Lauren’s boyfriend’s family at their Italian food store, Little Italy Deli. One of the men behind the counter handed Caroline a bowl of soup with a gloved hand, and then Marco (or Vito Jr’s brother) struck this pose (right, exactly as pictured). What’s the point of wearing sanitary gloves if you’re going to rub them on your unprotected hand? Apparently there is some cultural confusion about whom the gloves protect, the food handler or the client. In food safety language this is referred to as magic glove syndrome.