Symbol of Food Safety - GLOVES

Gloves hold a special identity as a part of the ‘Food Handler’s Protective Clothing Kit’. With the advent of ‘Food Safety’ they are used profusely in the food industry today. Restaurant production and service staff, Employees from manufacturing units and Retail processors too, use surplus amounts of gloves. Food quality personnel often render training and focus on appropriate use of gloves. However, they have not been accepted by the food handlers completely. Moreover their use has been enforced in food work environments to ensure product safety majorly; in turn diluting the factors affecting food handler hygiene and safety.

Today ‘Gloves’ have become a symbol of Food Safety, however with a false sense of security. Use of gloves is not the only and safest way to protect food from being contaminated. ‘Glove Abuse’ can pose serious food related concerns and also interfere with employee hygiene and welfare initiatives. The objective of this article is to introduce food handlers to the concept of appropriate storage, usage, selection while handling critical products and disposal of gloves.

Safety Norms

• Use appropriate clean gloves to handle specific foods
• Use gloves to create barrier between painted nails / stone studded finger rings /cuts & wounds dressings; and food products
• Do not use body lotions or powder talc’s on moist skin before wearing gloves
• Prevent excessive sweating by usage of gloves exhibiting the property of heat dissipation
• Choose a non-reactive glove make to ensure no migration of chemicals into the products

Facts

• Gloves are no ‘Permanent Solution’ to Hand Hygiene
• Inappropriate Storage, Handling and Disposal of gloves can lead to Food contamination and Spreading of Food Borne Diseases and Skin Infections

Storage

• Store gloves in their original packaging or as recommended into clean and sanitized dedicated dispensers.
• Store in clean and dry atmosphere.
• Do not store gloves in unattended areas, left open on food contact surfaces or in places where spillage or aerosols of liquids, leakages and / or piled under dirty miscellaneous objects.
• Do not mix dirty and unused clean / treated gloves.
• Keep superfluous stocks appropriately covered and away from any kindly of contamination.
• Wash, Sanitize and Air Dry re-usable gloves. Never re-use disposable gloves.

Types of Gloves

• Different types / makes of gloves are used in the food industry today. Gloves are manufactured using Polypropylene, Poly Vinyl Chloride, Nitrile, Natural Rubber Latex and Polyurethane. Cotton and padded gloves are used in the bakery and while handling the microwave. Cut resistant gloves are either made of metal or have spotting which do not allow the knife penetrate into the food handlers hand.
• Polypropylene gloves are least expensive, easily torn and can have built-in-antimicrobial compounds.
• Vinyl gloves are resistant to ozone and oil; and can be used around heat sources.
• Nitrile gloves are less elastic, abrasion proof, puncture resistant and significantly more durable. They may have little chemical additives and no proteins
• Latex or chemical additives may result in hypersensitive reactions amongst users.
• Polyurethane gloves are free from chemical additives
• When selecting gloves, important features to review are: break and abrasion resistance, durability, elasticity and resilience, tactile sensitivity and heat dissipation. Do not mix dirty and unused clean / treated gloves.

Appropriate Usage

• Foods handlers shall always ensure that they have washed and sanitized their hands effectively before and after using gloves.
• Gloves shall never replace hand washing.
• Ensure that your hands are perfectly dry before wearing gloves.
• Remove one glove at a time from the dispenser; without touching any food, body parts, uniform, dirty dusters, equipments or food contact surfaces.
• Ensure the glove dispensed is of correct size and type in order to suit the work requirements, clean and appropriate for the task to be performed.
• Ensure that the dispensed glove is clean, not torn or damaged.
• Wear gloves while handling soiled perishables, untreated raw materials, handling cold preparations, minimal treated / rare cooked products.
• Change gloves
• After they become soiled
• After they get cut accidentally or are damaged
• After every four hours when in continuous usage doing the same work
• After every activity and before start of new activity
• Between handling of non-vegetarian and vegetarian items
• Between handling of raw and semi processed and ready to eat food products
• Before and after breaks from work
• After using the restroom
• After touching sweaty body parts, soiled objects accidentally
• Do not handle miscellaneous objects like waste bin covers, money, coupons, KOT paper rolls / function prospects / special instructions / notices, soiled equipments, used dusters etc. after wearing fresh pair of gloves.
• Remove gloves by grasping them at the cuff and peeling them off inside out over the fingers while avoiding contact with the palm and fingers.
• Discard gloves in the dedicated waste bin and ensure appropriate hand washing. Do not litter.

and the beat goes on….

Anyone in the food business cannot afford to ignore the importance of hygiene. Yet it is still common to find many organisations whose attitude to hygiene is ‘Yes, that’s all very nice, and I’m sure that is the way things ought to be done, but we’re running a business here, and we simply don’t have the time or the money to spend on all those things.’ On the flipside, those who advocate high standards of hygiene end up being focused on the ‘Do Nots’ rather than the ‘Dos’.

A positive approach that stresses on professional practices and integrates hygiene with day-to-day skills and work schedules is what is required. Obviously this does not happen spontaneously and requires continual training.

In all hotel there is training being conducted for kitchen hygiene. The question is whether the training content is being put into practice. The answer to that is not very reassuring.

Training for ensuring cleanliness standards in the kitchen focuses on three main aspects: the basic kitchen hygiene and how to clean the kitchen which is essentially a part of kitchen stewarding, food safety & hygiene for chefs that covers the requirements at different stages of the processing of food from receiving to storing to preparation and cooking as well as holding, display and service and the very essential personal hygiene component.

Mandatory training in kitchen hygiene is part of the induction process for all staff connected with food production. The more important aspect that needs to be considered is the fact that this orientation needs to be followed by repeated re-orientation. It has to be a continuous process in every aspect, whether it is checking via regular and mystery audits or carrying out re-training.

Managerial staff must incorporate the need and the processes regularly in their meetings and briefings. This constant drilling is necessary until hygiene is a habit! Lectures, films and HACCP training are only a means to an end and have a temporary effect. Whether hygiene becomes a part of the operations or not, is largely dependent on a continual repetitive effort by all concerned.

In order to ensure that the training does translate into practice, there are training levels that are set and kitchen employees are required to work upward through these levels. If an employee fails to meet the requirements of a level when on the job, he/she is put back into training. This is designed to create an assurance that the training is actually being put into practice. At the same time, it is necessary to have a certain amount of accountability from the people who are being trained. Many hotels have built these training modules into their performance appraisal system. The employee cannot be promoted to a higher designation without successfully completing the hygiene training and will only be appraised on successful completion of hygiene training.

Perhaps one of the most neglected areas is the kitchen stewarding. There is no professionalism here as there is no formal training available. As a result, the person heading the area is someone who has moved up the ranks from a lower level of operations. Although such a person may possess the basic knowledge and skills, he is not equipped with the ability to deal with the changes and challenges of food safety and the technological advances in this area.

No catering college focuses on Kitchen Stewarding as part of its curriculum. Nor does any hotel give importance to this function and it is a regular happening that a staff member who does not fit into the kitchen inevitably lands up being transferred to kitchen stewarding. Such a person with limited knowledge and skills being responsible for very expensive equipment spells disaster! Knowing at what steam and temperature levels a dish-washing machine is supposed to operate is vital so that equipment and utensils that come in contact with food are in keeping with the food safety requirements.

Training is a key component to the GMP of the organization and will assist in achieving HACCP accreditation. Most internal training begins at induction and is followed by modules at different stages and is regarded as a part of KRAs. External trainings that may be conducted are on par with International Standards. Although these are available, very few organizations subscribe to these programmes.

Over the years we have depended on accreditations and training aids from other parts of the world. These do not match with the Indian scenario and are far removed from reality. In recent times however there has been a strong initiative to shift to that which is local. Staff in our country can hardly identify with the pretty woman in a short skirt that they see in the training visuals! To overcome this, visual aids have been made locally not only in English, but also in Hindi and Marathi and the process is on for creating programmes in all the regional languages of the country.

Although this is a great step forward, it might also be a good idea to create programmes and visuals that are specific to the organization. Making a video clip in the same kitchen where the staff is working has the added benefit of the staff being able to relate to the content easily. Most training departments are reluctant to invest in making their own films but given the fact that technology is now so easily available and user friendly, it would be worthwhile to consider this as an effective option. The use of a video clips shot randomly for auditing and rectifying wrong practices can have an amazing impact on training… as the saying goes, ‘seeing is believing’.

On a futuristic note, the Quality Council of India has started compiling training programmes under the Indian accreditation norms so it is only a matter of time that there will be a series of training programmes that will be fine tuned to Indian requirements. In light of the new act that has been passed by the Food Safety Standard Authority of India, there is an additional focus on accrediting the certification bodies that are providing certification across the country.

On reviewing the situation, it is clear that a structured training is essential, preferably in-house rather than external accreditation. Induction training according to SOPs must be followed by supervision to make sure that it is put into practice. This coupled together with constant monitoring and re-training is the only formula for success in achieving high standards of kitchen hygiene. Where there is an erratic and haphazard approach to training, hygiene standards are likely to be inconsistent. In a sense, the training and re-training form a repetitive almost rhythmic pattern and the beat goes on!!!

FSSAI EXHIBITION AT PRAGATI MAIDAN

Reward scheme for whistleblowers if need arises: Govt

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) The Health Ministry today said that it has readied a reward scheme for whistleblowers who could expose individuals involved in food adulteration.

Minister of State for Health Sudip Bandhopadhyay, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, said the Ministry is awaiting to see if the Parliament passes a Whistle Blower Act, as in that case there may be no requirement for the reward scheme on food adulteration.

"Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has drawn up a draft reward scheme which will be operationalised after finalisation within the scope of Section 95 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006," Bandhopadhyay told the House.

"Before taking a final view about the reward scheme, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is waiting for the outcome of this Bill," he added.

In response to another question, Bandhopadhyay said that the World Health Organisation had removed India from the "list of countries with active endemic wild polio virus transmission".

AP Govt to issue order against use of carbide for ripening mangoes soon

This summer season, Andhra Pradesh is likely to be free of mangoes ripened with calcium carbide, a cancer causing chemical, as the state government is likely to issue an order in this regard this week.

Md Israr Ahmed, director, marketing, agricultural marketing department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, explained, "This time we have a large quantity of mango produce and right now meetings among farmers and consumers are being conducted in various districts to create awareness on using ethanol instead of calcium carbide for ripening."

He added, "Further to the meetings, a GO will be issued on the ban of using carbide for ripening and it will be ensured that the order is adhered to throughout the state."

The main mango producing districts in Andhra Pradesh are Krishna, Chittoor, Khammam, and Nalgonda. These districts are known for varieties such as Benishan, Totapuri, and Malgoba.

Ahmed admits, "If 100 kg are going out of the state, at least, 95 kg of them are ripened with carbide and the rest by better means like ethanol. However, the traders have been made aware of the massive losses - mangoes ripened with carbide rot in 3-4 days - that they have to bear for attempting to save some money in using carbide, which is very cheap compared to other means."

According to him, the National Horticulture Mission offers 25 per cent subsidy for using pack houses, ripening chambers and permitted means like ethanol for the purpose. Hence, the use of calcium carbide can be successfully avoided.