Should worker be handling apples at Squeeze Me machine without gloves?
Should gloves be worn when handling fruits that go into juice vending machines?
For Stomper Pathfinder, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
He told Stomp that he had a “report on the cleanliness” of the Squeeze Me vending machines that sell apple juice.
Pathfinder was at Joo Chiat Road around lunchtime on March 31 when he saw a man restocking apples in a Squeeze Me machine without gloves.
“The worker was seen not using gloves while filling up apples meant for dispensing, after handling carton boxes,” said Pathfinder, who sent a photo of the incident.
The photo shows a man in white standing in front of a Squeeze Me vending machine. Both his hands were ungloved as he grabbed onto apples in the box next to him.
The sight raised hygiene corners for the Stomper, who buys juice from Squeeze Me machines across Singapore for himself and his young children. “It’s convenient and fresh juice guaranteed,” he added.
Pathfinder did not report the incident to Beaver Energy, which owns the Squeeze Me line of vending machines. The company also supplies car wash machines, car mat cleaning machines and helmet cleaning machines.
Pathfinder said: “I want to share this with Stomp because it has a a broader platform, and the vending machines are used by the mass public and even tourists.”
In response to a Stomp query, Beaver Energy thanked Pathfinder for the feedback and said it would conduct a thorough investigation in the matter.
According to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), gloves “provide an additional barrier between bare hands and food”. When used properly, they help to reduce the transfer of germs from hands to food.
“However, the use of gloves does not replace proper hand washing,” SFA said. “Dirty hands will contaminate the gloves.”
The agency noted the importance of changing gloves frequently, “particularly when switching between tasks (e.g. after handling raw food, money or garbage, or touching exposed skin, nose or eyes)”. Gloves used for food preparation should also not be used for other tasks.
However, SFA acknowledged that there may be instances when the use of gloves may pose safety risks or are not practical, such as the preparation of machine-pressed sugarcane juice, clapping of roti prata and moulding of sushi.
Regarding the juicing of sugarcane, SFA said: “There is minimal duration for bacterial growth or toxin formation and the food safety risk is relatively low as sugarcane juice is generally chilled with ice and/or consumed instantly after juicing.”
This is not the first time Stomp has reported on concerns regarding apple juice vending machines. On Feb 25, a Stomper shared feedback about drink volume, inconsistent pricing and freshness of apples in iSlurp vending machines.
Then, the founder of iSlurp attributed some of these problems to high rental costs and the relatively new technology of apple juice vending machines.
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