Experts Speak Out

Food Safety
Dr. Charles E. Reed, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Mayo College of Medicine, testifying before the CFSAN, August 27, 2003:
  • The first point that is important here is that gloves are different. These [low-protein latex] gloves have practically very small amounts of allergens. These [high-protein latex] gloves have a thousand times more. The difference is how the gloves are made. It is not really appropriate to say that all gloves are alike. What we needed to do at Mayo was get rid of these [high-protein] and buy these [low-protein], which we did, and we thought we solved the problem pretty well. But to say that we should ban all [latex] gloves because there are bad ones is just not appropriate."
  • All the data you have been hearing is out of date. It goes back to this time before we really understood the problem, before manufacturers had changed and gotten more of them to do manufacturing processes that provide good gloves, fewer making bad gloves."
  • "The amount of allergen in [latex] gloves has very substantially reduced. They are not all bad."
John Schultz, Vice President of Food Safety, Marriott Corporation, testifying before the CFSAN, August 27, 2003:
  • "We have been using latex or natural rubber gloves within our company for the past 13 years. We use them extensively. We use them for obvious reasons I am sure you have heard in the past couple of days, but we use them so that we do not pass on to our guests pathogenic organisms, specifically things like Staphylococcus aureus and Hepatitis A."
  • "We have a minimum concern raised by our associates regarding allergenic reactions from their use. Our chefs are very close to their people and I talk to our chefs on an ongoing basis. They call me very, very frequently and I have never heard of any cases other than sometimes a minor rash reaction or hives from an associate wearing latex gloves within our facilities. Again, we use millions of them."
  • "We look at the examination-quality glove as having significantly lower protein content which has been linked to allergenic reaction from their use. We manage the protein levels which we feel is what is impacting our low rate of reaction to the [latex] gloves."
  • "I think that, in my use of latex gloves, and we use the examination quality...if you want to define 'better' for me, it [latex] gives me better tactile when I deal with plates. It also provides a little better strength, I would say. It does hold up within the operation better than vinyl."
Doris Rittenmeyer, National Manager of Safety Management Services, Food Handler, Inc., testifying before the CFSAN, August 27, 2003:
  • "With appropriate standards for the manufacturer, high-quality, low-protein, natural rubber latex can be an option to reduce the risk of latex allergies associated with food."