When must gloves be changed during food preparation?

When preparing food, gloves must be changed after handling raw foods and before touching ready-to-eat foods to prevent cross-contamination. Raw foods, particularly meats, poultry, seafood, and eggs, can harbor harmful pathogens. If food handlers do not change their gloves after preparing raw foods, they risk transferring these pathogens to ready-to-eat foods, which do not undergo further cooking and can cause foodborne illnesses.

This practice aligns with food safety guidelines designed to protect public health. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining a clean and safe environment during food preparation by ensuring that potential contaminants are not passed onto foods that are meant to be consumed directly without additional cooking.

In contrast, changing gloves once every hour, only if they break, or after handling cooked foods does not sufficiently address the critical point of cross-contamination from raw to ready-to-eat foods. Safe food handling practices prioritize immediate glove changes in response to specific tasks, such as transitioning from raw to ready-to-eat foods.