Supply Chain Contamination: How Much Bacteria Do Single-Use Gloves Carry?
In an independent testing of 26 different brands of new and unused single-use gloves, Eagle Protect found at least 10 different enterotoxigenic strains of Bacillus cereus contamination. These findings are of note because the Bacillus microbe was found responsible for a recent recall of meat products, triggered by testing from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Eagle Protect’s findings, combined with the meat recall notice, has prompted the company to issue an urgent warning to the food handling industry on the hidden risks of not just chemical but also significant microbial single-use glove contamination in the existing supply chain. It is estimated that Bacillus cereus is the fifth-leading cause of foodborne illness, with over 60,000 cases each year. Other pathogens identified on gloves that may represent significant public health hazards for glove users or food establishments included Listeriamonocytogenes, Clostridoidesdifficile, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax).