When must disposable food service gloves be changed?

The correct answer is that disposable food service gloves must be changed when changing tasks. This practice is essential for preventing cross-contamination in food preparation environments. Each task may involve different types of food or materials that could introduce allergens or pathogens if transferred from one surface or food item to another.

For instance, if an employee uses gloves to handle raw meat and then switches to preparing a salad without changing gloves, there is a high risk of contaminating the salad with harmful bacteria from the raw meat. By changing gloves between tasks, food workers ensure that they maintain hygienic practices and safeguard the integrity of the food being prepared.

While gloves do need to be changed under other circumstances, such as if they tear or after handling food, the most critical moment is during task changes. Keeping protocol consistent in these scenarios further emphasizes the importance of glove use in achieving food safety, especially in busy food service settings.