Gloves: Risks and Solutions for the Most Overlooked Zone 1 Food Safety Item with Steve Ardagh, CEO & Founder of Eagle Protect | Episode 115

In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are joined by Steve Ardagh, the CEO and Founder of Eagle Protect, now as our official sponsor. He’s also known as the “Glove Guy” and is on a mission to save the world one glove at a time.

He’s been on the podcast before, and we’ve also talked about his research and glove safety on other occasions. Even so, we guarantee you’ll learn something new today, as our hosts always do when talking to him.

They touch on topics such as the glove safety gap in the US, the fact that contaminated gloves might result in false positive lab results, the idea that better quality gloves actually reduce glove cost, the impact of tariffs on glove quality, why vinyl gloves should be banned, and more.

In this episode:

💩 [01:14] Officially meet Steve Ardagh, the “Glove Guy”,  as our new sponsor

💩 [03:17] The biggest challenge behind glove safety

💩 [04:01] When Matt and Francine learned that gloves may already come in dirty

💩 [05:03] Being FDA Food Compliant doesn’t guarantee the glove is safe

💩 [07:11] The glove safety gap and Eagle Protect’s role in closing it

💩 [08:28] The harmful chemicals that can even be in FDA food-compliant gloves

💩 [09:50] Bringing awareness to the problem, but also providing the solution

💩 [12:07] Any risk is too much of a risk when it comes to our safety

💩 [14:34] The terrible consequences for the most vulnerable and their loved ones

💩 [17:08] The idea that maybe the gloves are the actual culprit

💩 [19:39] Why vinyl gloves should be banned from food handling

💩 [22:28] How tariffs can impact the vinyl glove supply and a better option

💩 [24:29] The progress in the industry around gloves

💩 [25:36] Stop cutting corners: better quality gloves actually reduce glove cost

💩 [30:03] Beware the ways glove factories save money, especially as tariffs rise

💩 [31:58] How Eagle Protect guarantees their gloves are safe and high quality

💩 [34:55] Make sure your gloves help rather than compromise your safety

💩 [36:13] Good gloves don’t rip

💩 [38:05] 16% of food outbreaks implicate gloves as the cause

💩 [40:36] Stories of concerning yet common glove misuse

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Catch up on our previous episodes about Glove Safety:

• Episode 56 | The Truth About Single-Use Gloves: Are They Actually Helping?
• Episode 57 | The Glove Food Safety Gap: Raising Disposable Glove Standards with Steve Ardagh, CEO and Founder of Eagle Protect
• Episode 81 | Global Glove Safety Day and Other Big Food Safety Issues with “Food Safety Icon” Dr. Darin Detwiler

Access the Journal of Food Protection Paper Steve mentions.

Check out Eagle Protect’s Clean Gloves Project: White Paper & Glove Testing.

The new glove safety solution that Eagle Protect unveiled at the Food Safety Summit 2025.

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